The Ugly Duckling Effect
by Azneyez
Summary: Riku was always a looker, Sora wasn't. But when they arrange to meet each other's boyfriends in their first reunion in years, Riku is faced with a gorgeous and utterly unavailable problem. RxC and SxL slash, eventual RxS and LxC.
1. Chapter 1

AN: First KH fanfic posted! I actually have a bunch of them, but this is the one I finished first. I don't think I'll continue it...I like the other ones better...but I'll just throw 'em up, on the off chance that some merciful soul decides to review this piece of crap. :D It'll get better, but this chapter equals much suckage.

Um, this chapter is RikuxCloud and SoraxLeon. Maybe a hint of the impending RikuxSora and LeonxCloud, but nothing really obvious. I don't want to ruin the story, but because I want to be sure to warn readers, the couples do end up switching partners. If I plan it out right, it will be sweet, not disturbing. Sorry for any out-of-character-ness. I'm doing my best. And pardon the language! I tried to watch my mouth (or Riku's, rather) but I may have slipped and left an eff-word or two in there. Oo;

* * *

The Ugly Duckling Effect

By azneyez

* * *

"C'mon, Strife. Stop slacking. We have to be at the airport by eleven."

Grumbling, Cloud dropped the magazine he'd been reading and resumed dusting with pointed laziness. From his place at the windows, Riku glared, heaving a roll of paper towels at him. "I'm serious! I let you sleep in and everything while I cleaned the bathrooms. The least you can do is wipe off a coffee table."

"But you make a such an excellent housewife," Cloud protested, beaming.

Despite himself, Riku chuckled, then struggled to retrieve a stern expression. "And you're an excellent bum."

"What's that? I have an excellent bum?"

Riku sprayed him with the Windex. "That too."

"Honestly, though," said Cloud in a suggestive voice, coming up behind Riku and closing his arms around his waist. "The only reason I'm slacking so much is because I don't even _know_ these people you're inviting over. I've only the vaguest idea. Some old schoolmate and his boyfriend, right? So how do I know that he wasn't your old flame or something? I'm not so keen on the idea of sharing a house with competition."

"He's not competition," said Riku blandly. He extricated himself from Cloud and continued scrubbing the windows. "We went out for maybe two weeks...wasn't meant to be. We're cleaning because he's a neat-freak, not because I'm trying to impress him. Clear?"

"Crystal, Riks. Thanks for clarifying. Finally."

Cloud swiped halfheartedly at the computer desk with the dusting rag, then sighed and crashed back onto the sofa, reopening the magazine. "So what does this old flame look like? Sweet, virginal schoolboy? Fiery redhead with a killer body?"

"Um."

Riku paused, his hand poised in the air. When he turned around, he was a little red.

"That cute, huh?" Cloud sighed.

"Um. No. On the contrary...well, he's—he's not gorgeous. He's not like you."

Slowly, Cloud's face broke into a grin. "He's...'not gorgeous?' What's wrong? Do you think he's ugly?"

"_No_!" Riku protested, flushing even more. "No, he's definitely _not_ ugly. I feel awful even thinking it. He's skinny and short. And he wears big glasses. But he's _really_ not ugly...he...he could probably just use a little more meat on 'im. And if he would get his teeth fixed, or maybe not wear orange rubber bands on his braces—he'd be fine looking! He—"

"Riku-kun, you think your friend is ugly!"

"_God_, no! He's not ugly...he's just...homely!"

"Same thing!"

"No, it's not!"

"'Homely,'" Cloud read, seizing the dictionary and flipping through the pages rapidly. "'Simple, plain. Uncultured and crude; unattractive!'"

"Gah, go play in a food processor! He's not ugly! He's _tolerable_!"

"No wonder you were so ambiguous about who he was!" He snickered, then sobered up. "I hope you're not worried that I'm going to make fun of him or something. I've dated some dubiously attractive people before. I don't care whether he's kind of ugly, as long as he's a nice guy."

Riku growled, scrubbing at the windows even harder. "He is _homely_."

Cloud rolled his eyes. "Riiight. Since you're in a pissy mood, I'll just pretend that 'homely' and 'ugly' have different meanings."

"I swear to god, Cloud. If you say _one_ thing to him—if you _dare_ even _imply_ that he's unattractive, or that I think he's—"

"Hey."

He stood up again, placing a hand on either side of Riku's shoulders so he was trapped against the windows. Riku met his gaze defiantly, then looked away, that same proud blush on his cheeks. Cloud touched a lock of his hair. "Listen to me," he said, quietly. "Believe it or not, I'm not a shallow person. And I actually do have some common sense, and manners. I would _never_ call one of your friends ugly. Even if this guy looks like the hunchback of Notre Dame, I think we'll get along splendidly, as long as he has a sense of humor."

"He's really funny," Riku replied huskily, still not meeting his gaze. "He makes me laugh until I piss my pants."

"Then we're going to have a blast ," said Cloud calmly.

Riku finally looked back up at him, treating him to a small smile. "I'm guess I'm just really nervous about this. I've kept in touch with him since he moved away, but I haven't seen him since I was fourteen. He should be seventeen by now. I just...don't want to lose his friendship. He's was the best friend I had in school. He still is my best friend. So if you screw this up, I will kick your ass."

"Yeah, of course. I understand. Really."

He kissed Riku briefly. After they broke away, Riku smiled at him again, a little doubtfully.

"Just be sure to watch your mouth. You have a tendency to say things without thinking."

"I'll watch my tongue around your 'ugly' friend," said Cloud solemnly, and Riku couldn't repress a snicker.

"_Homely_, asswipe. He's _homely_."

Riku smacked his hand as Cloud reached for the dictionary again.

* * *

The airport was ridiculously crowded. It seemed everyone was leaving for the Fourth of July, and by the time Cloud and Riku had squeezed up to the front of the gate, Riku was afraid that he might've missed his friends. "We could always have him paged," Cloud suggested in consolation. "'Homely' kid to Gate 317, please, 'homely' kid to 317." Riku punched him in the ribs, effectively cutting off any further smartass comments that Cloud may have spouted during their wait. They stood in silence for nearly twenty minutes, Riku chewing his lower lip, Cloud painfully rubbing his side.

"We must've missed him," Riku said at last, sighing. "C'mon. Let's go check the baggage claim."

"Wait for this last group," said Cloud, as another planeful of passengers began emerging through the gate. He scanned the crowd. There were a couple of frazzled mothers with children, a flight assistant holding the hand of a tearful toddler who looked too young to be flying alone...a handsome man with a kid who might've been his younger brother, both of them stunningly attractive. He shrugged, patting Riku's shoulder. "Well, it was worth a shot. They're at baggage carousel 6, right? We'll see if we can head them off before—Riku? Hello, Riku?"

Riku was staring into the crowd, his mouth sprung ajar.

"What? You see them?"

"Th-those—those two f-f-f—they're really—they're—"

Cloud tried to follow his gaze, frowning. "Have you no shame? Ogling guys while I'm standing right here?"

Suddenly, one of the passengers—the younger of the eye-catching duo—approached them, leaning across the ropes to tap Riku on the shoulder. Up close, the kid was simply spectacular. His complexion was fantastically clear, and he had the most beautiful blue eyes Cloud had ever seen. When he smiled, his face was shy and flirty at the same time. _Beautiful_ smile. "Hey, baby," he said to Riku in a sultry voice, touching his shoulder. "Take me home with you? I need a place to crash tonight. I promise to make the occasion worth your while."

"Oookay, kid." Cloud seized Riku's hand, but he wasn't moving. "He's taken."

"_Cloud_," Riku stuttered. "Th-th—thi—_shiiiit_..."

"And maybe he's had a few too many this morning," Cloud added sweetly. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we're trying to meet some friends."

"He _is_ my friend," Riku burst out, suddenly finding his voice. His face was cherry-red.

Cloud frowned. "You know each other?"

The kid smiled that incredible smile again. "Yeah, we went to school together! Ri, it's _really_ great to see you again. You haven't changed a bit, Mr. Popular!"

Riku wordlessly shook his hand. He tried to speak and ended up emitting a strange choking sound.

"Sweet," said Cloud, losing his patience. "So glad you two could meet up again. But we must hurry along now." He snapped in Riku's face. Riku didn't even blink. "Time to go find the homely one, remember?"

The kid raised his eyebrows. "_The homely one_?"

"Lost you in the crowd," his older friend broke in suddenly, materialized next to the kid. He too was unbelievably handsome, maybe in his twenties, with long brown hair and tight leather pants. He glanced at Cloud and Riku expectantly. "So, want to introduce us?"

"Oh, sure," said the kid after a moment of silence, eyes narrowed. "Leon...I assume this is Cloud. And the one next to him is Riku. Cloud, great to meet you too. I'm Sora."

Cloud stared at him blankly.

Sora smiled frostily at Riku, his eyes blazing. "The homely one."

"Wait, listen, I didn't--" Riku began, but Cloud cut him off.

"_Whaaat_? You're the _homely_ one? Riku, what the hell! Are you blind?"

For the second time that day, Riku's voice failed him. "S...Sora...!"

The silence that followed was perhaps the longest and most awkward Cloud had ever suffered through. He shuffled his feet, glancing between Riku and Sora, the latter of whom looked livid. Leon coughed, meeting Cloud's gaze. The eyed each other helplessly, almost smiling. Then Sora broke the silence and kissed Riku at the corner of his mouth, pulling him into a hug.

"You're just lucky the homely one is also the good-natured one," said Sora, smiling reluctantly. "And the good-natured one would still like to be friends with the tactless one, if you can tolerate my unattractiveness."

"Oh, Sora," said Riku weakly. "Let me explain. I never said..."

"It's fine," Sora interrupted. "We'll talk it out later. Come help us with our luggage."

Sora nodded, then smirked, swinging his carry-on duffel back onto his shoulder and walking towards the baggage claim. Cloud watched his hips sway as he moved, elbowing Riku and gesturing. "If that's a homely body, I'm straight as a goddam pin."

Riku scowled and threw him off. "Fuck you."

"Maybe later tonight," Cloud called after him.

"So much animosity among this group," Leon commented, one eyebrow raised. He watched as Riku raced after Sora. "I think this may prove to be much more interesting than I had initially anticipated."

"Gah, Rik's bipolarity plus Sora's hot sexy body equals mass drama," said Cloud, and after sharing another wordless grin, the two of them headed after their significant others.

"By the way," Sora was saying, casting a calm sideways look at Riku, "You have split-ends."

Riku stopped dead in his tracks and grabbed a handful of his hair, horrified. "What? I don't see any!"

"They're in the back. Try using more conditioner. I find that helps, even for us homely folk."

The look on Riku's face was worth the price of an admission ticket. He opened his mouth angrily, then bit back the retort, his cheeks going red. Sora just smiled at him, fluttering his eyelashes with a confidence that assured Cloud that he knew damn well he wasn't ugly.

"But besides your hair," Sora added kindly, "you're not entirely repulsive, Ri."

More silence.

"The first person to shut Riku up," said Cloud in amazement. "Sora, you're my hero."

Wordlessly, Riku flipped them both off.

* * *

End chapter one

Continue? Trash it? Tell me; I listen:D By the way, I don't have a beta, so I apologize for my spelling and grammar mistakes.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I am just stunned by my reviews. _Wow_. Thank you all, every single one of you--you really have no idea what it means to me to know that people are actually responding to what I post! Thank you a hundred thousand times over; I could not be happier! I heard some crazy rule that we're no longer allowed to respond to our reviewers? Is that just a rumor, or is it true? Because I fully intend to thank you all by the end of this story, regardless of whether or not it's "allowed." Thank you all SO MUCH!

Sorry this chapter is so short! Normally the chapters will be longer, but I cut this one off a little early because I wanted their whole outing to be a separate chapter. So this part ends a bit abruptly...couldn't think of a great way to end it...

Chapter warnings: More RikuxCloud and LeonxSora; spots here and there of RikuxSora and a little LeonxCloud, if you squint. OOC-ness; sorry for not mentioning it in the first chapter. And profanity. I need to watchidy my languidy.

* * *

The Ugly Duckling Effect 

By azneyez

* * *

"...I just can't believe he got fourteen phone numbers just walking to the baggage claim." 

"You are? Huh, with that walk, I'm just surprised no one tried to bang him right there in the airport."

"...thanks, Cloud. I _desperately _needed that visual."

"Oh, and if you counted that porter who offered him ninety-six bucks to sleep with him--?"

"Um...yeah. That too."

"He can sure strut his stuff," said Leon, startling Riku and Cloud as he entered the room with a few suitcases. They smiled carefully at him, uneasy to be caught gossiping about his boyfriend, but Leon just gazed back at them with a small smile of his own. "I'm sure he was just turning on the charm to make you mad, Riku."

"Surmised as much," Riku muttered. "And he did a damn fine job. Fourteen numbers..."

"Yes, his average in that setting is usually only seven," said Leon.

Riku groaned and pretended to put his head in the microwave.

"Don't take it personally," Cloud comforted, setting his soda on the counter and patting Riku's shoulder. "It's only because he's...like...Pretty-Boy Version 5.0. A sort of flavor of the month. He's not exactly dark and handsome, and he's not quite a hot punk like you, Riks...he's just...pretty. Very, very pretty."

Riku glared at him, crossing his arms defensively. "How so?"

"Seriously? Look at him! His eyes, his smile--"

"Not a bad ass, either," said Leon nonchalantly, making Riku choke.

"Dude, that's my best friend you're talking about!"

"The same one _you_ were talking about when you called him ugly," Cloud pointed out.

"I SAID HE'S FRIGGIN' _HOMELY_!" Riku screamed, snapping.

Leon cleared his throat delicately.

Riku went rigid. "He's..."

"Right behind you, yes," said Sora.

His face pained, Riku slowly turned around. Sora had returned from the upstairs guest bedroom and was standing in the kitchenette's doorway with his hands on his hips, smiling slyly. "Thanks, Riku, I think I get it," he said sweetly, launching himself into a sexy little cheerleading dance. "U-G-L-Y, I don't got no alibi; I'm ugly!"

"That's why I close my eyes when we make out," said Leon, totally deadpan. Cloud cracked up, then hastily struggled to turn his laughter into a coughing fit as Riku shot him a furious look.

Sora strode across the kitchen and spun into Riku's arms with the air of a ballroom dancer. "Don't worry, baby," he murmured in the same husky voice he'd used in the airport, making Riku shiver. "Where we're going, you won't be able to see this revolting face--all you'll see is stars."

"Hey, now," said Cloud, grinning. "I got dibs on the tactless one. Hit on your own, Dancing Queen."

Leon smiled and shrugged. Sora moonwalked back to him.

"Just look at you!" Riku burst out, finally finding his voice. That wasn't just some haphazard hip swaying; Sora could _really_ move. "What happened to the good old days, when we used to take those square-dancing lessons at the community center?"

"I've since developed this crazy love for dancing," said Sora. He grinned, closing his eyes and swaying to some internal tune. "It's great. I can just lose myself when I'm moving to a beat, y'know?"

"Oh, I _know_," Leon said pointedly, and Sora laughed and poked him in the stomach.

Cloud raised an eyebrow. "Are we missing something?"

"That's how I met Sora." Leon wrapped his arms around his boyfriend and squeezed, kissing his neck. "It was at some wild college party, and at the time, Sora was just ending it with one of those shallow frat boys. There was a breakup scene, right there in the living room, and Sora got a little down. He...well, he..."

"Got drunk off my ass," Sora admitted with a small smile.

Riku glanced disbelievingly at Sora again, who met the gaze and shrugged embarrassedly.

"To make a long story short, I got it in my head to do a little table-dancing, and I did a header into the crowd and knocked myself out. Four consecutive shots of vodka probably aren't too beneficial to one's sobriety. Especially since I'd never had alcohol before in my life."

"So...you came to his rescue?" Cloud asked Leon, smiling. "Prince Charming on horseback, etcetera?"

"More or less. He was out cold, so I put him to bed and guarded the door."

"Good thing, too," said Riku, turning to Sora with a sharp look. "Thank god Leon was there. That could've been really bad, you know. Wild things happen at frat parties."

Cloud winced. "Yeah, seriously. Last time I passed out at a frat party, I woke up in high heels and fishnets."

"Same old Riku," said Sora affectionately, leaning in to hug him. "Thanks for being so concerned."

Riku grudgingly hugged him back. "You're not off the hook, Sora. Bambi-eyes or not, I'm going to have to lecture you on safety later on tonight."

"C'mon, Riku, I'm not a kid anymore!"

"No shit," said Riku without thinking, his skin still tingling where Sora's well-formed hip had pressed against him. A second later he seemed to realize what he said and reddened. Sora blinked at him with uncharacteristic shyness.

Lull in conversation.

"Yeah, so," said Sora, sounding awkward for the first time since their reunion. "I think I'm going to need a nap before we head out tonight. It was a long day, and I'm sort of jet-lagged."

"Fine," said Cloud after a pause, casting Riku a quick look before turning back to Sora. "Is the room okay?"

"It's great, thanks. Are you guys always so clean?"

"We're very dirty, actually."

Riku hit him. "He meant the house!"

"Oh! Sure, yeah, the _house_ is generally clean. Heh. Can't say the same for--never mind. Leon, let me help you get your bags upstairs." Shamelessly, Cloud turned back to make a lewd tongue gesture to Riku as he and Leon ascended the stairs, sending Sora into a fit of giggles at Riku's scandalized expression.

"Wow, Riku, you sure know how to pick 'em. I _adore_ Cloud. He's so funny."

"Try dating him," Riku grumbled. "Right in the middle of a nice kiss, he'll be suddenly moved by the urge to show you his Porky Pig impression."

"That'd be very sweet if you had a farm animal fetish, you know."

Riku glanced at him, grinning. "Yes. Mmm, roosters. Oh baby, oh baby."

For a long moment they just beamed at one another, content to be in each other's company again. _Four years is too long a time not to see each other_, Riku decided, abruptly struck by how many things he'd missed out on: Sora's first party, Sora's first time getting drunk, Sora becoming so passionate about dancing...as a rule, he liked to know what made his friends who they were, and there was such a large gap of Unknown between them now that he felt obscurely like he'd let Sora down. They'd made a promise to always be there for each other, hadn't they? Friends forever, and all those clichés.

"Look, things are okay," said Sora suddenly, startling him. "No hard feelings, right?"

"I hope not," said Riku. He squeezed Sora's hand briefly, then smiled at him, inwardly perplexed. Sora could read him like an open book. "Now I remember why we're best friends. Four years, and right away you start back in on the mind reading."

"Um, distance makes the heart grow fonder, or something like that."

"I'm not sure about this time." Riku pulled back to examine his friend. "Gah, you've really changed."

"Good change?"

"Hell, yes. You look incredible. I mean...you were never ugly...it's just--"

"Actually, I prefer the term 'homely,'" Sora corrected primly.

Riku stared at him in shock for a long moment before bursting into laughter. Sora joined him a second later, laughing hard, leaning against him for support.

"Ri, you were supposed to argue with me, not start laughing," he teased, elbowing him playfully in the side. "You're such an asshole."

"I prefer the term 'tactless.'"

"Oh boy, what a pair," said Sora, giggling. "Homely and Tactless."

"More like Beauty and the Beast, I think. Wherein you are Beauty."

"Shush, you."

When their laughter finally subsided, Sora leaned in to kiss Riku quickly on the cheek. His lips lingered for a moment, hesitating, then he reached back and touched a lock of his silvery hair. He pulled the strands around and held them out before Riku's eyes. "No split ends," he said, his voice light. "Not a single one, Ri. If you use any more of your hair-care products, you'll get mauled by women who want you for their Herbal Essences commercials."

Before Riku could say another word, Sora was skipping off to the stairs with a grin, swinging around to wave to him before disappearing into the bedroom with Cloud and Leon.

Riku stared after him for a long time, then resumed cleaning the dishes, a bit of a smile on his face.

_Romantic cliché number one. I love you, Cloud, but wow, that one's a gem_.

* * *

End of chapter two. Next chap, we'll have some drinking, some flirting, some of Sora's raunchy dance moves, and even more sexual tension! Fantastic! 


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Super-fast notes, here! I've got to be in bed in about five minutes. XD Just wanted to apologize for the mega-long wait, and THANKS A BILLION for your reviews! It makes me want to cry; I've just come into a new section of and so many incredible people greet me with encouragement. I love each and every one of you; DON'T FORGET IT!

I was rushing to get this chapter out, so it's not fantastic. Watch for little bits of LeonxCloud, and the ever-growing RikuxSora pairing! And sorry for all the typos!

* * *

The Ugly Duckling Effect 

By azneyez

* * *

What with Cloud's tastes and all, the "nice dinner" was really a nightclub--and of course, Riku protested mightily, insisting that they weren't all old enough to go clubbing and such--and of _course_, the bouncer greeted Cloud as an old friend, gave Sora an appreciative look, and ushered them in. They walked in at about six-thirty, and Riku relaxed a little. No one was really around. It would be just a casual meal, some chitchat, then home for a movie or something. But service was slow, and as soon as seven o' clock rolled around, the place was jam-packed and so clouded with cigarette smoke that Riku could barely open his mouth without having a coughing fit. 

Instead of speaking, he settled for picking at his French fries and glowering at Cloud. _Nice dinner my ass_. _But then again, this is the man who thought a "romantic" date consisted of sitting on running washing machines at the Laundromat. _Riku considered that for a moment, grudgingly. _Though that _was_ pretty fun. Vibration is always--no, that's sick. Well...as long as Sora is having fun--I guess--_

"Riku!"

"What?" he said, a little too quickly.

Sora smiled at him and said something that Riku didn't catch.

"_What?_ Can't hear you over the--"

"I _said_, Cloud has totally won me over!" Sora yelled, leaning in and dropping his hands casually onto Riku's. Riku flinched back a little, alarmed by the surge of agitation stimulated by the contact. Thankfully Sora had turned away and mowed right on, completely missing his reaction. "He makes me laugh, then gets us into a nightclub! You're so lucky!"

"Oh yes," said Riku with sarcastic cheeriness. "Going someplace where I can't even hear you speak is _really_ how I wanted to do some catching up!"

"_What?_"

Riku sighed. "Nothing."

Cloud, who had been sitting next to him and heard his comment, shrugged innocently. "Hey, you've got another couple of weeks to catch up. Don't even pretend you aren't interested in seeing Dancing Queen do a few moves."

Riku couldn't help a grin. "True, true."

"So you are interested in _him_!" Cloud cried out grandly, jumping up and throwing his napkin at Riku. "I knew it! Dumping _me_ for an old schoolmate--you _whore_!"

"Oh my freaking god, Cloud, just say 'I need to use the bathroom' like a normal person!" Riku shouted with exasperation, throwing the napkin back. "You don't need to make a dramatic exit each time!"

"Sure I do," said Cloud in a wounded voice. "Riku's no fun!"

The others stared after him as he headed to the facilities. Leon looked slightly nonplussed, but Sora's expression was priceless--his blue eyes were wide, and his mouth was opened in a perfect 'O.'

"Holy...geez," he said, sounding dazed. "That was just a joke, right?"

"Yes." Riku leaned back in the booth, sighing resignedly and blowing bangs out of his face.

Sora broke into a smile again. "Phew! I'm glad! For a second there I was afraid you two were just going to break up right there in front of us. I intend that we'd have a very drama-free visit, right? We had enough issues back in school together."

"Oh, yes. The old homo predicaments. The...the he-said, he-said drama."

"He-said, he-said," repeated Leon, snickering.

"Wow!" Sora exclaimed, kissing Leon on the cheek. "So he _does_ laugh!"

"At the funny jokes," agreed Leon.

Sora pouted. "You never laugh at my jokes."

"Point taken."

"Ouch." Sora threw down his own napkin in mock-anger, then clambered over Leon to liberate himself from the booth. "Well, I think I'll throw a 'Cloud' here and take a dramatic exit. There's partying going on at that dance floor, and I can't believe I'm not a part of it!"

"Don't dance with anyone over the age of forty," Leon instructed.

"I won't, if I can get the partner I want," Sora said innocently, sliding around the table and offering his hand to Riku. "Dance with me?"

"Oh," said Riku, alarmed. "I don't think so."

"Why not?" He was pouting again, in the cutest way Riku had ever seen. "You can dance well. I've seen you."

"I'm not as good as you, though." Riku threw a hopeful glance at Leon. "Besides, Leon, aren't you opposed to your boyfriend gyrating with another guy on the dance floor?"

Leon shrugged. "I trust him."

"But--but Cloud--"

"Trusts you," Leon finished nonchalantly. "I'll explain to him, Riku. You two go have fun."

Sighing deeply, Riku accepted Sora's hand and allowed himself to be dragged up. They stood there for just a fraction of a second, then Sora smiled that smile again--and, like a bomb, Riku felt a wave of emotion rush over him again, so strong it nearly made him choke. Belatedly, he wondered if dancing with Sora wasn't the best idea--but Sora was already hauling him down the steps that separated the raised rectangular dining area from the spacious dance floor. Riku struggled against him as they found an unoccupied spot, catching Sora's hands as he reached out to hold onto him in the heaving crowd.

"Sora--hold on--!"

"Ri, you're my best friend, so I'll give you some sage advice," Sora interrupted, placing a finger against his lips to prevent him from speaking. "You've gotten so serious. Don't analyze things--just live in the moment! That's the best way to survive. Maybe the only way. So, in short, let's dance already."

"Demanding little thing, aren't you."

"You bet."

Riku put his hands gingerly on Sora's waist, barely touching him. Sora sighed at him and grabbed his hands, planting them firmly on his ass. Riku reddened immediately. Sora groaned.

"God, you've gotten so _prude_!"

"I am _not_ prude!"

"You are!"

"At least I'm not a virgin!"

"How do _you_ know I'm a--"

"Don't even try to lie to me, Sora. You do that weird tongue thing when you lie."

Sora's hands flew self-consciously to his mouth. "What...? I do something with my tongue? I--hey, you got me off on a tangent." He glared at him. "Okay, well, at least I have the guts to touch your hips. We've been best friends for forever; you'd think you would've gotten over your qualms. Besides...there's nothing wrong with me wanting to save myself for the one I love."

"What, so you and Leon...?"

"I _do_ love him," Sora reaffirmed, suddenly embarrassed and defensive. "That's not what I meant. I just want to make sure that...since things--no, forget it. We're not discussing this right now."

"You two are happy together, right?"

Sora spoke with soft sincerity. "I'm happy with him. I love him."

Riku was just opening his mouth to ask if Leon reciprocated the feeling when Sora closed his eyes and started dancing. It was as if someone had just flicked on an internal switch: he was a dream on the floor, falling into his own world immediately and fully. Riku watched him for just a moment...slim arms curled behind his head, brown bangs falling in a sexy curtain over his eyes, brushing against Riku with every spin. You could tag the gay guys by how many heads turned. He glanced uncertainly back to their table. Cloud had returned from the bathroom, and both he and Leon were watching interestedly and making "go on" gestures.

"Riku, you're making me look silly," said Sora without opening his eyes, not so much as missing a step. "Dance with me now or I'll go ask Cloud."

Sighing, Riku resigned himself to dancing, wondering if it was too late to pretend he only knew how to two-step. Sora turned around and promptly placed his arms around his neck, leading until Riku found the beat of the song. After a moment of hesitation, Riku replaced his hands on Sora's hips.

"Hey Riku, you dropped something."

"Uh...what?"

"Your inhibitions."

Riku laughed; the first good, clear laugh devoid of embarrassment since they'd met at the airport. "Weren't you the one who wanted to dance? Quiet down, and try to keep up."

"Sounds like a challenge," Sora murmured in his ear, eliciting another shiver from Riku. "You're _on_."

* * *

"Holy shit. They've got a freaking crowd." 

Leon glanced up from his coffee and squinted at the dance floor. Even though the area was crammed with bodies, he could easily pick out Sora and Riku. They were surrounded by a growing ring of spectators. And even if they hadn't been spotlighted like that, it was clear from their vantage point that you either had the dancing gene or you didn't--many of the people on the floor were simply swaying in place, struggling to look adept. But Riku and Sora _had_ it. Boy, did they have it. As Leon watched, the two of them did a sort of graceful rotation around each other (maybe giving new angles for their audience; what hams), executing some pretty tricky footwork and managing all the while to look nonchalant and smolderingly flirty. Leon felt his eyebrows rise. Where in hell had they learned _that_?

Cloud was standing against one of the support columns, sipping at his drink and nodding to the beat of the music. "I always knew Riku was a pretty good dancer, but he looks a thousand times better with an adept partner," he commented, smiling helplessly.

"You don't dance?" asked Leon.

"Nope. Not well, anyway. How about you?"

"I'm more of a ballroom dancer."

Cloud looked impressed. "Pretty cool. I respect the older dances...they're classic, you know? Not to trash the modern dances, understand. Sora's really incredible."

"Except when he's drunk," Leon said, without thinking. Cloud snickered.

"Yeah, they're both fantastic," he said. "In a sort of Schoolboys-Gone-Wild kind of way."

As if proving their point, Riku and Sora educed a wild burst of cheers from their crowd with a provocative move that--from the looks of it--involved Sora grabbing Ri by the beltloops and dragging him so they were nearly chest to chest. Riku seemed to have lost all of his earlier misgivings about touching Sora below the waist. His hands were nearly up the back of his shirt.

Leon shrugged. "They look good together."

"Yeah," said Cloud distantly, and for just a second, his eyes seemed to flash. He looked back down at Leon, hesitated, then broke into a smile. "I'm not hitting on him or anything, but Sora's got some nice hips for a guy. I wonder if the spectators realize that both of them are boys."

"I'm sure they do. That's why it's mostly girls watching."

The two of them exchanged a look, then broke into grins. Cloud shuffled for something in his back pocket. "Hey, wanna smoke? Riku hates it."

"So does Sora," said Leon, reaching for one of the cigarettes that Cloud was offering.

"Can't help it in this atmosphere. The smoke smells nice. I usually resist, because Riku's young, and..." Cloud paused, biting his lip. _It's not just that it ruins his lungs_, he thought to say. _It's that it soils him, somehow. Destroys a little more of his youth. Like taking something without giving anything back_.

Instead, he smiled again. "He doesn't like smoking," he finished simply.

Leon felt the need to say something to the uncertainty in Cloud's expression--even Cloud himself seemed not to realize how eloquent his eyes were. But the song finished with a wave of screams and applause, and a few seconds later, Riku and Sora were climbing back up the steps to their table. They were laughing and clinging to each other to stay upright, both misted lightly in sweat.

"Kick _ass_," Sora said breathlessly, giggling and squeezing Riku's arm. "Did you see us?"

"Who _didn't_ see you?" Cloud had pulled the cigarette out of his mouth, holding it considerately away from Riku as he hugged him across the shoulders. "Like I was telling Leon, you look great when you're dancing with someone who knows what they're doing."

"So you don't mind?" Riku asked sheepishly.

"Nah. We came here to have fun, and you're having fun, finally."

"Hey, great dancing out there," said one of the waitresses as she passed by, winking at Sora appreciatively and patting him lightly on the arm. "You and your boyfriend look beautiful together; you sure can move."

"Oh, we're not--" Sora began, but she had already bustled past their table to deliver some drinks.

There was a tiny lull, so short that it was barely noticeable, in which Cloud and Leon both blinked. Then Sora turned back to Leon with an uncomfortable grin and dropped him a quick kiss. "Hey, Handsome. I'll put everything on daddy's plastic tonight. You and Cloud meet us at the car and finish your smokes, okay? We should probably get home and take showers."

"Yes, it's past curfew for minors," said Leon.

"And neither of you smell like roses," added Cloud.

Riku snorted. "It's better to smell sweaty than smoky. We'll meet you in a sec, okay?"

"Sure. Don't dawdle, though, or we'll freak out and think your fans trampled you or something," said Cloud, squeezing Riku's hand.

Riku and Sora watched as Cloud and Leon disappeared from sight, chatting in surprisingly adult tones and sharing in a moment of cigarette-addicted empathy. When they'd vanished through the darkness of the exit doors, Riku chanced a quick sideways look at Sora, who was sipping out of his unfinished soda. Sora felt his eyes on him and turned, smiling around the straw and doing that flirty little eye-fluttering thing.

"I owe you an apology. You really do still have it."

"And you never lost it," said Riku. He moved to hug Sora around the waist. "I feel like I should thank you for the date...but it wasn't exactly a date, was it?"

"Well, we danced. That's sort of a date-ish thing to do, huh?"

"I guess so, yeah."

Sora smiled brightly at him, his eyes startlingly blue in the dim lighting. "Riku, please don't take this the wrong way. You're my best friend, but I still look at you and feel overwhelmed by all the 'shoulda, coulda, woulda's.' Not that I don't think that Leon is really the love of my life. Leon is...well, he's my everything. But...we could've been, Ri. Honest to god, we could've. But it works out, because I've got Leon, and you've got Cloud."

"Yeah," said Riku, then smiled back. "Yeah." Something heavy was settling in his stomach--indigestion? Those stupid freaking French fries.

"Friends forever," said Sora, offering his pinkie finger.

Riku took a moment to recognize the gesture. "Oh--oh yeah!" He linked his own pinkie with Sora's. "We'll be friends for as long as there are Star Trek marathons and sucky boy bands."

"A damn long time," Sora confirmed, laughing.

He went to find a waitress to pay for dinner. Riku looked after him, still a little faint from nostalgia. He rubbed his pinkie finger slowly. Something about that motion...when had they last done that? It had been only hugs the last time they'd parted company so many years ago, but something pulled at the strings of his memory. Something bittersweet...what had it been?

Sora jarred him from memory with a tap on the shoulder. "Let's roll before Cloud comes after us."

Riku nodded, shrugging off the thought. "Yeah. That'd be an ugly sight."

The two of them connected elbows and headed off to the cars.

* * *

_It had been nearly three years ago._

"_I'm so sorry," said Sora. Without his thick glasses, he looked much better--there was a suggestion of his being a beauty when he grew up, though of course, it was hard to imagine now. He was chewing nervously on his lower lip, showing those orange rubber bands on his braces. But the tears on his face shone like pearls--like an angel, Riku thought, then shook away the idea._

"_No, I'm sorry," Riku said softly. He felt tears burn in his own eyes. "I guess...guess it just wasn't meant to be, right? We gave it a shot...but...we need to just let it die out."_

"_Yeah. Yeah." Sora scrubbed at his face one last time, then replaced his glasses. When he spoke, there was a desperate note in his voice. "But we're still going to talk to each other, right? We'll still be friends?"_

_Riku hugged Sora tightly, feeling his thin frame shaking. "Duh, Sora. We'll always be friends."_

_Sora pulled back and extended a pinkie, his eyes still red from crying. But now a smile tugged at his lips. It was that good-nature that Riku loved about him. "Yeah? Make it official."_

"_Shit, yeah." He hooked his pinkie with Sora's._

"_Friends forever, then?"_

"_As long as there are lousy boy bands," he agreed._

"_A damn long time," said Sora, and laughed._

* * *

End of chapter 3 

Hate it? Review anyway, and tell me why XD


	4. Chapter 4

AN: I apologize for the super-long wait; the last few months of high school were crazy! But now I'm done, and I have a whole summer ahead of me, so expect quicker updates and more diligent review replies. Thanks so much for being patient with me, and for giving me your support--it means the world to me. I mean that!

Warnings for this chapter: Language, language, language, Cloud's PMSing, fights and foreplay, and language. XD

* * *

The Ugly Duckling Effect

By azneyez

* * *

"_Mmn, Riku--stop! My shoulders are ticklish!"_

_Well, duh. Riku had unearthed the fact ages ago during one of their "Movie Nights"--a term that had become a euphemism for "making out in the dark while some chick flick runs in the background." Since then, they'd dropped the pretenses. Riku had asked Sora over to indulge in sweaty, tongue-incorporated foreplay, and Sora had agreed._

_They were lying on his bed now, hip to hip. Sora was shaking a little, and Riku pulled away, struggling to see him in the dim lighting. "Turn-on spot?" he teased._

_Sora scowled. "No. It just makes me tense up!"_

"_Translation...it's a turn-on spot. Then let me try..."_

_He delicately worked his fingers beneath the collar of Sora's shirt, brushing along the curve of his neck until they'd reached the spot that made him shiver. He'd no more than gently scraped a fingernail along that sensitive patch of skin when Sora gasped out, working a knee between their stomachs and kicking him hard in the chest. Riku toppled backwards off the bed, taking half his sheets with him. His sternum began throbbing immediately._

"_Jesus _Christ_, Sora! You broke my ribs!"_

"_Stop whining," Sora said silkily, peering down at him with a smirk. "Did they teach you nothing in sex ed? Your partner says 'stop,' you don't go."_

"_Don't even start. You _know_ you liked it." Riku closed his eyes and dropped his head back against the carpet. "Ugh...I can't catch my breath."_

"_Nooo, Riku, don't leave me! Initiating mouth-to-mouth resuscitation!"_

_Sora leapt off the bed with the air of a lifeguard, splaying his arms and catching him around the shoulders just as he tried to sit up again. Riku hit the ground harder the second time. A second before the breath whooshed back out of his lungs, Sora kissed him, exhaling a cinnamon-flavored mouthful of oxygen. They lingered in position for a long moment._

"_Love you," Riku said when Sora had finally disengaged._

Sora smiled shyly. "Same back to you, stud. And...you should really wake your ass up before I kick it down the stairs."

"...what?"

Cloud smacked him. Hard.

"Auugh!" He jerked awake in the clean light of morning, his temples throbbing. He whipped around to glare at Cloud, effectively purged of all remnants of sleep. "What the hell was that for?"

"Oh, nothing personal, just following the rules," Cloud said, sarcastically cheerful. "When one's boyfriend has wet dreams about his exes, he must be awakened by the obligatory slap in the face."

Riku winced. His headache worsened steadily.

Cloud stood up and began making the bed in jerky, angry tugs. "I'd almost prefer it if you just...moaned his name or something. But the way you dream...you gave me a very detailed, perfectly comprehensible description of the situation, thanks much. You narrated it." He raised his voice an octave in impression of Riku, making him flush. "'Sora walked into my bedroom. He was wearing tight jeans. I went up to him and kissed him, pushing him against the wall, and his fingers immediately went to my belt and--'"

"I'm sorry," Riku said quietly, touching his hand. He felt like shit. "I didn't have any control over it."

"Yeah yeah. We 'can't control our subconscious urges' and all that."

"It wasn't even an urge, though! It was a freaking flashback! Hanging out with Sora last night got me all nostalgic, I guess, and the memory just resurfaced in my mind. Please don't be pissed. It was nothing."

Cloud stopped fiddling with the sheets, thinking about that silently for a moment.

"It was a flashback. Not a fantasy?"

"Flashback," Riku affirmed with certainty. He could still remember the way Sora's lips tasted. The recollection made him feel guilty, and he shot a quick look at Cloud, who was still absorbed in thought. "Forgive me?"

Cloud finally looked up. "Yeah...it's fine. I really can't blame you for a flashback."

"Especially when you still dream about those guys in that Pirates of the Caribbean movie."

"Well, who doesn't?"

They smiled tensely at each other, cautiously, reestablishing their harmony and trying not to touch upon any delicate feelings. Cloud began changing pillowcases again, and Riku crawled out of bed to give him a hand. They were finishing the last one when Cloud spoke up, uncharacteristically hesitant.

"Riks...I'm going to ask something, and I want an honest answer. Did you and Sora ever have sex?"

"Not even close," Riku said at once, startled. "I mean, c'mon. Does Sora not strike you as the world's biggest virgin?"

The answer seemed to put Cloud at ease. He grinned, struggling to hold back laughter. "He does have that kind of 'ravish me' ambiance, huh. Maybe that's part of his appeal? Like...I got it: the Beauty Queen whose gardens have not yet been soiled by foreign seeds!"

"Um, ew. Thanks a billion for that comparison; it just exudes poetry."

"Like your flashback narration. 'Sora placed his mouth on mine, his fingers soft and pliable; clay ready to be molded. His lips were like forbidden fruits of love--'"

Riku threw a pillow in his face.

* * *

Cloud was cooking (burning?) breakfast when Leon walked into the kitchen.

"Morning, Leon. Riku just hit the store, and I think I just incinerated the rest of the bread in the toaster, but I can make a mean bowl of cereal. How about it?"

"Thank you, later," said Leon. "Sora's stranded in the shower. He forget to unpack his shampoo."

"He can just use Riku's, can't he?"

The corners of Leon's mouth pulled into a smirk. "He says, and I quote, 'I refuse to rub a tropical salad on my head.'"

Cloud snickered. "I'll resist the urge to break out the 'Riku's a fruit' puns, though it's so tempting. But he'll..." he broke off as something silver ricocheted off the stovetop, bouncing into a glass of orange juice on the table. "Shit! I broke another spoon!"

"Uh." Leon gently pushed him aside, staring into a pan of half-congealed, half-burnt eggs. "I'll finish cooking if you'll go get Sora's bag for me. It's by the door."

"Savior of my Silverware! Thanks."

He removed his apron and went to the front door to retrieve Sora's suitcase. It was surprisingly heavy, and after a few failed attempts to pick it up ("What the hell does he carry in here? Bowling balls?") he resigned himself, setting to work unfastening the zippers. As he pawed through the clothing in search of Sora's toiletries, he noticed a large hardcover book peeking out from beneath a pile of socks. He tugged at it curiously.

It was a yearbook from Gateway High School, embossed with Sora's name and the year in the corner. Cloud did the math quickly. Riku would've been a sophomore, Sora a freshman.

A few of the pages were marked. The first opened up to the sports section. Cloud squinted at the picture of the lacrosse team and was just able to make out Riku, younger, but still handsome. Someone (presumably Sora) had circled his name in the caption and written, "Please wear your jockstrap, Ri. I want to have children someday."

Cloud grinned.

He turned a page and found the School Superlatives. Most Artistic: Naminé. Most Athletic: Wakka. Sweetest Smile: Roxas. These were names he'd heard in passing; Riku still kept in contact with them. He admired them for a while, putting faces to names, then caught sight of the next header.

Cutest Couple: Riku and Sora.

There was a full page devoted to them, dominated by three pictures. One was a candid at a football game, in which they were huddled together, sharing a soda. Another was from Homecoming, and the last was Sora with his arms around Riku's neck, both of them grinning into the camera. The caption (a quote from Sora) read, "Riku makes me feel so...so happy. So..._gay_!" Bad pun. _Bad_. The accompanying story was printed below, and Cloud scanned it quickly.

"This is a couple close to our hearts," it read. "The first homosexual couple to ever win this award, 'Soriku' caused quite a stir--but in the end, they made it through, and are stronger because of their struggle. Six months and counting...congratulations to them."

His breath caught in his throat. _Six months_? Riku had said they'd only been together for two weeks!

"Cloud, breakfast is ready," Leon called suddenly from the kitchen, startling him. He snapped the yearbook shut and replaced it in the suitcase, scrambling to find the shampoo. His fingers were closing around the bottle when Leon peeked in to check on him.

"Found it!" he said hastily. His voice sounded too cheery, even to his own ears. "Took me a minute. Sora's not a light-packer, is he?"

"No," said Leon, examining him carefully. "Are you...okay? You look pale."

"Yeah, fine! I'm fine."

He must not have been convincing, because Leon frowned and reached to help him stand. "If something is bothering you, I'll do what I can to help."

"Actually, I do have a question," said Cloud, his heart pounding. "How long were Riku and Sora together?"

Leon thought for a moment. "Six months, give or take."

_Why the hell would he lie to me!_

"Hey," Leon said, touching his face gently to get his attention. "What is it?"

Cloud hesitated, then took a deep breath, trying to will his hands to stop shaking. "Well...Riku said--"

"_Leon_!" Sora shouted desperately from the bathroom, cutting him off. "Don't mean to be demanding, but can I _please_ get my shampoo? I can't get out of the shower, and my toes are shriveling!"

"Oh, I forgot." Leon turned back to him apologetically. "Wait here, I'll be back."

But by the time he'd returned, Cloud was gone.

_

* * *

_

Apples. Laundry detergent. Two packages of paper towels and a dozen eggs.

Riku methodically crossed the items off his list, shifting around the contents of his shopping cart. Somewhere behind him, there was a crash. He stiffened, getting a sudden chill, then sighed at his own paranoia and continued down the aisle, idly browsing for tomatoes. _I say tomato...you say tomato ketchup...I say potato...you say potato pan_--

There was another shuffling sound in the distance. He dropped his pencil and whipped around, nearly toppling into a rack of tortilla chips.

"Who's there?" he demanded loudly. The man next to him jumped, dropping his bag of grapes. They rolled in every direction.

Moving quickly now, Riku snagged a few tomatoes and began to walk faster, looking over his shoulder every few seconds. He had a terrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. His eyes darted around wildly as he made a beeline for the bakery aisle, believing in some sad part of his mind that if he could _just_ make it to the doughnuts, he'd be okay. Safety in pastry. Safety in pastry--

"RIKU GEORGINA MARSHAK!"

Cloud launched himself at him from behind a table of animal crackers, scaring Riku so badly that he popped one of the tomatoes all over his shirt. He gaped as Cloud advanced on him slowly, brandishing a barbeque fork in one hand and a box of tampons in the other.

"W-w-what did I do--?"

"You tell me," Cloud said, his voice deadly calm.

Riku thought hard, sweating profusely. Cloud took a step forward. He took a step back. "I...I didn't change the roll in the upstairs bathroom. I'm sorry, really! And--y-yeah, I...I forgot to run the dishwasher. But we didn't have soap, so--"

"Try again."

He'd backed up too far. The backs of his knees bumped into one of the vegetable racks. After a moment of terrified immobilization, he closed his fingers around a bag of salad and hurled it at Cloud with all his might.

"Ow!"

"That did _not_ hurt!" Riku shouted. "It's a freaking bag of _lettuce_! What the hell is your--hey, stay back!" He heaved another bag as Cloud moved forward, this time hitting him square in the forehead.

Instead of recoiling this time, Cloud simply let the bag slide off his face. His eyes were blazing.

"Let's be reasonable about this," Riku stammered, feeling his way backwards. He kept stumbling over his own feet, which lacked any feeling. "We can t-talk like adults, okay? Whatever's wrong, we can...work it out! So, stop. St--_aaagh_!"

Cloud charged him suddenly, slamming him up against the produce display. The motion triggered the mini-sprinklers that kept the products clean, and Cloud shoved Riku's head under the flow of water as the sound system began the first cheerful choruses of "Singing in the Rain."

"You're psycho!" Riku cried, sputtering in the water. "You stupid evil _whore_!"

"At least this stupid evil whore is _honest_," Cloud said sweetly, pressing his face against the pile of apples.

"Wh-what is your _problem_?"

"Tell me how long you and Sora were dating!"

Riku cursed, debating whether or not he'd rather suffocate in the Red Deliciouses. "Longer than two weeks, okay?" he yelled, flailing. The water was still merrily cascading down onto his face. "Like...six and a half months!"

Slowly, Cloud released him. He straightened, spluttering, trying to dry himself with his tomato-stained sleeves.

"So why'd you lie to me?" Cloud asked softly.

Silence for a moment as he wordlessly wrung out his hair. Then he closed his eyes briefly, sighing, speaking quietly. "I didn't want you to think that we were old flames, that's all. I didn't want you to have to worry."

"Well...try _honesty_, next time!"

"Yeah, I will. I never...it's just...it's not really a big deal. I didn't think it would ever matter."

Cloud removed his handkerchief from his back pocket. He handed it to Riku, who accepted gratefully.

"But you gave me a _real_ scare," he said finally, with a sigh, crossing his arms. "We need trust...it's what we built this relationship on, and it needs to be our constant. You and I...we're different. Some people, like Leon and Sora, they just click--but we have to work at it. So that one little lie that _really_ isn't a big deal made me worry about what other mistruths might've been eating away at our foundation. I love you, Riku. You feel the same?"

"Of course I do," Riku muttered. "And I'm really sorry."

"Okay, then."

They kissed gently, then again, more deeply. Riku's mouth had that chemical tang of fruit wash.

"So we're all good then, Riks?"

"Yeah. But...let's get one thing straight. My middle name is _not_ Georgina."

Cloud grinned sheepishly. "Uh, yeah, I know. I just need something long to shout at you. For dramatic purposes, you understand? If we're going to make a public scene, we ought to do it _right_."

Riku looked at Cloud, appalled.

"Cleanup on aisle two," he whispered, and that was all it took. The two of them burst into laughter.

When Sora opened the door to find Riku soaked and covered into tomatoes, accompanied by Cloud and a police escort, he silently forked over his credit card to pay reparations for two bags of salad and a hundred apples. He asked no questions, and Riku told him no lies.

* * *

End of chapter 4!

Mymy, that was a very sitcom-inspired scene! Did I overdo it? As always, I'm extremely grateful for your comments and criticism, and thank you so, SO much for reading. I love you all.


	5. Chapter 5

AN: You know what I'm going to say: I fail horribly at updating regularly. I am so, so sorry, and I thank you all for being patient, and for all the polite "Are you going to update?" hints. It really helps me get my ass in gear.

This chapter is massive. And there's a reason for it. You know what that is?

I received _seventy-freaking-six_ reviews chapter four. That is _stunning_. I have no words for how touched I am...and I tried to express my gratitude through this six-thousand-word update. You all rock my world! Thank you thank you thank you, ten thousand times over.

Warnings for this chapter: Language, lots of characters from KHII, heavy LeonxSora, RikuxSora, and LeonxCloud. Lots of jumping around, possibly to the point of incoherency...my apologies! Probably a bunch of typos, too, but I'll come back and do some hardcore editing after I eat dinner. XD

* * *

The Ugly Duckling Effect

By azneyez

* * *

They'd planned on an evening walk for their date, but it'd started raining after only a few blocks. Those were his sweetest memories, his _cleanest_ memories in years--he remembered holding hands, laughing, snagging a newspaper out of a recycle bin to hold over Sora's head. They eventually sought refuge under a huge tree in the park, and that where they'd had their first kiss. His fingertips were sticky with newsprint, and Sora's mouth tasted like the rain.

"Storms make me want to cry, but I love them, all the same," Sora had said, watching the precipitation flow off the edges of the leaves.

Leon fumbled with the zipper of his coat, holding Sora close enough to his chest that he could seal them both into the warmth of the soft fabric. "Why is that?" he'd asked, confused by the contradiction.

"Well...because afterwards, when it's all over, there might be a rainbow."

He pulled back to meet Sora's eyes, abruptly feeling both embarrassed and absurdly touched. "Never thought about it like that."

"Yeah, I think almost everything works that way," Sora said shyly. He sounded so much older than his fifteen years. "You know, you have to sit through the rain to see the rainbows. You have to wait until there's darkness, because then you can see the stars. You need to get hurt, lose the people you love...then you learn from it and appreciate what you have even more, because it reminds you to live in the moment. It's easier for me to live like that. I, like...I want to fly so much that it doesn't matter if I fall once in a while, if that makes sense."

Leon suddenly had to break their gaze. He felt too old and too tainted to even look such innocence in the face. He came within an inch of calling it off right then and there, leaving Sora standing there in the rain with his purity intact, because the whole thing felt so _wrong_.

But then Sora touched his face and began to squirm away.

"I understand," he said, smiling faintly. "I don't want to get you into this, either."

The admission was so unexpected that Leon didn't even blink.

"What are you talking about?"

"Shoot," said Sora, biting his lip. He looked down guiltily, and when Leon brought his chin back up, his eyes were angry and embarrassed. "Leon...I'm being selfish! Look, we haven't done anything, right? We still have plausible deniability. Let's just call it off right now, no drama. I understand. Really."

The pain rose in his stomach involuntarily, intensely. He swallowed hard, overcome by the sudden desire to run back to his apartment and drink himself into oblivion.

"Leon, I'm sorry," Sora began, but Leon waved it off.

"Don't be," he said, rushing to get the words out through his rapidly closing throat. "I expected this."

"But--"

"It's fine. Really."

He unzipped his jacket, brushed the rain off Sora's shoulders, and took a step back. Sora reached forward to touch his hand, and he couldn't quite bring himself to break away. Not yet.

"I'm just glad you felt it, too," he said quietly. "You're so--good, so decent. I'm sure people have told you that before. You're amazing, and I don't want you to ever sell yourself short. And if I ever clean my act up and become a better person, promise me you'll give me another shot." He leaned in to kiss him goodbye, but Sora dodged. Ouch. He sighed and started to walk away.

"Wait a minute," Sora called out after a few steps, the bewilderment in his voice too strong to be anything but genuine. "What the hell are you talking about?"

_He's going to make me say it? What a little bitch_!

Against his better judgment, Leon turned back around.

"You said no drama, okay?"

Sora winced. "Right, but...I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Look, I understand I'm not good enough for you!" Leon exploded, throwing his arms up. He couldn't remember the last time he'd raised his voice to someone...or the last time he'd been on the verge of tears. "You're something special! Why waste yourself on someone like me? I'm almost twenty, and I live in a shitty apartment that doesn't even have working plumbing, and...damn it! You know, the most shameful thing is that I _know_ I'm out of your league, and I don't want to drag you down anymore than you want to hook up with a loser like me! So, just go. No hard feelings. Trust me, I completely understand your reasons."

"Uh, apparently, you don't," Sora said, in honest puzzlement. "Because...Leon, what are you even _saying_? You're breaking up with me because you think you're a bad person?"

"Actually, you're breaking up with _me_, but yeah," Leon said. "Rub salt in the wound, why don't you?"

"But you're an incredible person," Sora said, confused. "You're the best thing that's happened to me in years!"

Leon paused. "Then...what?--"

Sora clapped a hand to his forehead, exasperated. "I don't even know!"

His heart was beating so hard that he could feel it in his temples. He walked back up to Sora slowly, placing his hands on his forearms. "Tell me why you're breaking up with me," he said. "Just say it flat out."

"I'm breaking up with you because I'm _jailbait_," Sora declared, as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe.

The two of them stared at each other in complete perplexity. Fifteen seconds passed in silence.

"_What_?" Leon demanded.

"I'm jailbait," Sora repeated, his voice trailing off. His eyes were huge and mystified. "I'm not even sixteen, you're nearly twenty...you picked me up at a frat party, when I got drunk and fell off a _table_, remember? I really don't feel like getting you sent to jail just because I've got feelings for you. It's your _life_ at stake. If word got out that...Leon? What the hell, this is serious!"

He couldn't stop laughing. The irony was wonderful. He tried to sober up, but one look at Sora's lost expression set him off again. He leaned heavily against the tree, consumed with laughter.

"Uh...and that's why we need to break up," Sora continued loudly over his snickers, looking at him as if he were crazy. "Because there are serious ramifications for statutory rape...I mean, assuming we ever decided to get physical. Not that I assume you find me sexually attractive, because I know I'm not, but I don't want to--"

"Shut up," Leon ordered, dragging him into long, vigorous kiss. Sora squeaked against his mouth but clung to him hard, as if afraid to let go. They stood there like that for an immeasurable amount of time, feeling the warmth grow between their bodies, oblivious to the thunder somewhere in the distance.

And Sora still tasted like rain.

* * *

"Really not the most romantic 'how we became a couple' story," said Sora, scribbling away in his journal and watching Leon towel off his damp hair. "What were the elements? Kissing in the rain, that's okay. That's the stuff of movies. But yelling at each other...minus one point. Mentioning statutory rape...minus another. Nearly breaking up...the 'let's just pretend this didn't happen' speech..."

Leon moved across the room to grab a shirt from the closet, smiling faintly. "Standing under a huge tree during a thunderstorm?"

"Minus twenty," Sora said, grinning.

They exchanged a fond, wordless gaze. Leon sat next to him on the guest bed and leaned in for a quick kiss. Sora smiled, lingering against his mouth, breathing in the scent of his hair.

"You smell like fruitcake," he said. "Did you use Riku's shampoo?"

"You took yours out. I didn't have a choice."

"You always have a choice, silly."

Blessed (or cursed) with startlingly expressive eyes, Leon saw the change in mood before he felt it. Two years of steady dating had pretty much attuned them to the same wavelengths, but Sora still had those teenager-moments, when no one could read him. His expression had darkened slightly by the time they pulled apart. He looked down and began fiddling awkwardly with his diary, its edges soft from use.

"What?" Leon prompted, stilling Sora's hands by clapping his own over them.

"I don't know," said Sora. He laughed a little. "I don't ever know what's going on, do I?"

"You know more than you let on," said Leon.

Sora smiled reluctantly. He stood up to fish a pair of socks out of his suitcase and began speaking uncertainly, his back still turned. "Leon...we started our relationship on rocky grounds. We were confused. For the first six months, I wondered if we were going to make it, because it all felt so impulsive. The reason I'm bringing this up now is that I want to make sure that all our issues have been resolved. Are we cool?"

"Our issues," Leon mused, tucking his hands behind his head and leaning back against the headboard.

"Do you understand?" Sora asked nervously.

"Mm-hmm. Well...statutory rape is no longer an issue, I suppose. You're seventeen. By most standards, that's a legally and morally acceptable age."

"It makes you less of a pervert," Sora agreed, snickering.

Leon threw his towel at him. "And then there's the fact that you think you're not sexually attractive."

"I'm working on the self esteem!" he argued, gingerly patting his shapely hips.

"So where are our problems?"

"Solely with you, handsome," said Sora, his voice softening. "I need to know if you're truly happy."

Startled, Leon sat up to look at him, but Sora moved next to him on the bed and gently wrapped his arms around his waist.

"You don't need to answer now. Just think about it. You're important to me, but I won't get in the way of your happiness if you want something different."

"Why would I want anything else?"

"It's low, quoting your own words at you...but what you said that day stuck with me. You told me that it would never work because you're not worth it. And all this time, I've thought it was _my_ issue, _my_ problems with self-image...but you're the one who doesn't realize how great he is."

"Sora," Leon began.

Sora put a hand to his lips. "Shh," he said, bending forward to kiss him.

A second later, Riku freaked out.

* * *

He'd gotten as far as, "Sora, want to go out and--" before shrieking like a girl, and Sora shrieked back, purely out of reflex, and from downstairs, they heard Cloud drop what sounded like an armload of dishes. It was Monday morning, and they were off to a great start.

"What happened?" Cloud shouted, bounding up the stairs as Riku slammed the door, shuddering violently. "Riks, oh shit, did the rash come back?"

"Worse! I just--hey, screw you, it was _not_ a rash!"

Cloud corrected himself. "Mild skin irritation. That...happened to be green."

Riku shuddered again, swiping convulsively at his arms as if brushing away invisible bugs. "God. I...dear god. I never want to see something like that ever again. I...I..." he turned and began fumbling for the bathroom door. "Excuse me, I need to go wash my eyes."

"What happened? It couldn't have been any worse than your emerald epidermis."

"They--were _kissing_. I walked into them when they were kissing!"

"Who, Leon and Sora? Yum!"

"Cloud, _no_!" Riku caught his hand just before he reached the doorknob, horror and disgust written all over his face. "Why the hell would you want to see that, anyway? It's not one of your Orlando-Bloom-ish, dewy-eyed brunette beauties with an ass, it's _Sora_. Freaking Sora!"

"I wouldn't call him Orlando-Bloom-ish, no--that more of Leon's thing, don't you think?--but Beauty Queen Sora definitely meets the rest of that criteria. Especially the ass part. I don't know if you've noticed, but damn, baby got back!"

"You're sick!" Riku exclaimed, pulling a revolted face. "He is _not_ a beauty queen!"

Cloud lowered his eyes suddenly and coughed, subtly tilting his head towards the right. Riku followed the gesture with his eyes, confused.

Blessed with impeccable timing, as always, Sora had opened the door just in time to hear that last. His expression was utterly offended.

Riku threw his arms in the air. "Oh, come _on_!"

"This is getting pretty old," Sora snapped. Irritated for the first time since the visit, he looked fierce; sexily domineering. His eyes blazed gorgeously. "Make up your mind! Either you think I'm attractive, and I'm just catching you at inopportune moments, or you're constantly going behind my back and laughing about how someone keeps flicking me ugly cards! I'm sick of opening doors to hear you make remarks about my lack of aesthetic splendor!"

"That makes two of us!" Riku yelled back. "Why don't you start knocking before you open doors?"

"Because I'm not the one on the outside, dumbass!"

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"Oh, sorry, do _you_ knock before you exit a room?"

"Of course not!"

"So why should I?"

"You shouldn't, moron! You're not the one on the outside, are--are you--oh, goddamnit!"

Sora crossed his arms, looking satisfied. The amusement had come back into his face. "So go ahead and say it to my face, bitch! I'm so ugly they turn off the surveillance cameras when I walk into 7/11. I'm so ugly I make onions cry! I'm--"

Fed up, Riku seized him by the forearms. "You want me to say what I really think, fine! Sora, you are unbelievably _hot_. Not just 'oh, not bad' hot--you're head-turning, obsession-inducing, perfectly, amazingly, _impossibly_ hot. Okay? And I value our friendship, so I'm trying _unsuccessfully_ to make myself _not_ want to ravish you, because we tried it once and it hurt us both! So forgive me if I'm acting like an asshole, but you're fucking up my libido!"

No one spoke for a long time, and at first, Riku thought he'd said too much. Then he realized that he was holding Sora roughly two inches from his face, so close that he could see the soft flecks of gray in his irises.

Something fluttered weakly in the base of his throat, and he let go, swallowing hard.

"It's understandable," Leon said supportively, ever the adult, finally getting up from the bed and moving to the doorway. "There's nothing wrong with wanting consistency in friendship, or having a healthy sex drive. Right, Sora?"

"Right," Sora echoed, but his voice sounded odd. He eyed Riku carefully, strangely, as if seeing him for the first time since the visit.

The "awkward silence" bit was getting pretty old. Sensing Cloud's eyes on him, Riku reached past Sora to grab his keys and hurried rapidly down the stairs before anyone could say anything to him. He snagged his jacket from the coat rack, shrugged it on without stopping, and got the hell out of dodge.

"Riku," Sora began, but Riku's only response was to slam the door so hard that the whole house seemed to tremble.

Cloud rested his forehead against the wall and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Fuck him," he said, softly and shakily. "Fucking _moron_."

"Cloud," Leon tried to console.

"He just--_goes_! He flies off the handle and runs away from everything! Where the hell could he be going?"

"I think I know where he is," Sora said in a small voice. "There's a place in town...he always went there when he needed time to think."

"Have at it, then," Cloud said nastily. "You're his _soul mate_. I'm only his boyfriend."

Sora started to say something, then thought better of it and shook his head. He quickly touched Cloud's arm in reassurance and apology, then looked up at Leon. "I'll try to bring Riku back," he said, sounding more than a little embarrassed. "Please watch out for Cloud, in the meantime? Makes sure he's comfortable and everything."

"See you," said Leon, nodding, and Sora headed down the stairs after Riku. As soon as he heard the front door close, Leon tenderly took Cloud's elbow. "Can I get you something, Cloud? Anything?"

"Find me a less confusing boyfriend," Cloud mumbled, his voice muffled against his arms.

Leon snorted, guiding him away from the wall. "Believe me, I understand that one."

Cloud looked up at him and smiled faintly.

"Let's sit down," said Leon.

* * *

The seven of them sat in the Twilight Coffeehouse, their longtime refuge from the turbulence of teenage life. It had been their safe haven for years. The sweet smells of doughnuts and decaf never failed to calm him, and as he told the story, he could feel the warmth of nostalgia radiating from the sympathetic faces of his companions. On the quiet days, he could almost hear their childhood conversations reverberating up through the years. Their dilapidated booth in the corner had heard so many secrets--who was going out with who, who broke up with who, who kissed who...who might be fostering feelings for an old flame, even.

None of them said a word while he'd finished relating the tale. They were the best of the best; the caring, nonjudgmental, always supportive friends who'd drop their lives on a moment's notice just to be there when someone needed it. Sora's moving away had hurt them all, and they listened closely, edgy with trepidation and excitement.

"Oh, wow," Roxas said when he finished. "_Wow_."

"Give me something better than that!" Riku pleaded, reaching across the table to grab his lapels. "You're supposed to be the smart one!'

Tidus frowned. "I thought _I_ was the smart one."

"You're more like the kid who trips on his own shoelaces and falls down four flights of stairs, you know?" Wakka said. "While carrying a lunch tray full of ketchup. Or something else that stains."

"Gee, thanks! And you're the resident asshole!"

"Let me get this straight," Roxas said, still concentrated on Riku's dilemma.

"You couldn't get it 'straight' if you tried," Axel said, shaking his head. "This has got to be the gayest thing I've ever heard."

"You and Sora have been hanging out," Roxas continued, giving Axel a hard, nonchalant shove and sending him crashing out of the booth. "And, in the years since he moved away, he's become some sort of sex god. This is..._Sora_? Our silly, awkward, skinny little Sora, who once tried to put condoms on his hands during chemistry lab, thinking they were gloves?"

"The same," Riku confirmed. He cradled his head in his hands. "Ugh. I need hard liquor."

"Would you settle for a refill on coffee?" Kairi asked with a smile, rubbing his back.

"If that's your best offer."

She poured him another cup and slid it between his fingers, pausing to briefly clasp his hand in hers. "Did you say he has a boyfriend now? Is he older than Cloud?"

"Yeah, by a year or so, maybe? Twenty-one or twenty-two." He banged his hands on the table, rattling everyone's silverware. He was on a caffeine-fueled tirade. "Shit, you should see this guy! He must've coined the saying, 'tall, dark, and handsome.' I thought Cloud would never stop drooling! Oh, and did I tell you that Cloud was the one who _started_ this whole thing? I mean, sure, I was the first one to call Sora 'homely,' but I don't know anyone else who could manage to let that slip within four seconds of meeting him. Besides Tidus, that is."

"You guys are so _nice_," Tidus said with melting gratitude. "Gosh, I'm so glad we're friends!"

"And you should see Sora when he _dances_," Riku went on. "His eyes get all intense, and he releases all these amazing pheromones...it's like he's...making love to the music!"

Axel pried the cup from his hands. "I think you've had enough coffee, you horny bastard."

"What should I do about this?"

"Well, shit, go get laid or something!"

"No! What should I do about _Sora_?"

"Go get laid or something," Axel said again, snickering, and the others whirled on him viciously and glared at him until his laughter subsided. He held up his hands. "Hey, okay! Riku, I'm just saying...it sounds to me like you never really got over Sora. The way you're talking about him now--"

"You _know_ we're ancient history," Riku snapped.

All of them stilled at the outburst for just a moment. Then Kairi cleared her throat and went back to refilling their mugs.

"So, when do _we_ get to visit with Sora?" she asked brightly.

"Seriously! I know you two are best friends, but four days is enough alone-time," Roxas said, grinning. "You have to learn how to share."

Riku sighed, leaning back into the cushions. "Oh, I don't know. He looked weird when I stormed out, and I didn't tell anyone where I was going...shit, I really screwed up! Things have been so tense since the second I met with him at the airport. What if I permanently scared him off this time?"

"Then you'd better hurry up with the make-up sex," Axel cackled.

"_Axel_!"

After they'd finished pelting him with balled-up napkins, Riku turned to Naminé, who'd been thoughtfully sipping her tea since the beginning of the discussion. "And what do you think about this? We must never neglect the opinion of our token sweetheart."

She smiled and folded her hands on the table, the motion delicate and composed. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "It's so difficult to give people advice on matters like these...I don't know what you should do, Riku, because I don't know the breadth of your feelings towards him."

Riku stared at her pensively, looking distressed. "There's the problem, I guess. Neither do I."

"Ask me again, when you know," Naminé said. "But my advice will always be the same, regardless: follow your heart."

"Haven't heard _that_ one before," said Riku, laughing a little.

She shrugged, still smiling. "But it's true."

"You could always talk to him about this, ya," Wakka suggested awkwardly. "What's the worse that could happen?"

"He could flip right the fuck out and spray me with Mace!"

"I don't have any Mace," Sora said suddenly from behind him, appearing beside the plant-covered partition. "I think it's only police issue."

Riku nearly leapt out of his skin. "_Shit_, Sora! Can you _warn_ a person? _Please_?"

"Riku, I'm approaching off your port bow," he announced good-naturedly. He waved shyly around the group. "Hey, you guys."

No one said a word in response. No one even moved. Tidus and Wakka were wearing identical expressions of shock, Naminé had frozen with her teaspoon halfway to her mouth, and Kairi went on pouring coffee, unaware that it had spilled over the top of the cup and was puddling in the saucer. Even Axel was at a loss for words.

"Uh," said Sora, rapidly growing more self-conscious. "Wow, don't all start greeting me at once."

Still no movement. Without even seeming to realize it, Naminé dropped her spoon.

"Will someone please _say_ something?" Sora shouted.

"Condoms," Roxas whispered.

Sora glared at him. "What?"

"You put...condoms on your hands. In lab."

"Oh, for God's sake, get over that! It was middle school! I'm embarrassed you guys even knew where to buy--"

"It _is_ you!" Roxas shouted, clambering over Axel to free himself from the booth. He hit Sora in an embrace so hard that they nearly toppled into a nearby table, where a bunch of tired businessmen had long since given up on having a quiet lunch. The two of them hugged fiercely for a moment, then the others joined in, all but smothering Sora in bone-crushing squeezes and coffee kisses. Sora laughed with what little air he had left, choking and flailing in their arms.

"Now that's the kind of 'hello' I'm talking about! Hi guys, I missed you too!"

"Wow," Kairi breathed. She pulled back from the hug to examine him, running her hands along the curves of his waist. "Sora, I..._wow_. You look magnificent!"

"What happened to you?" Axel marveled, pinching one of his cheeks. "Someone beat you with a sexy stick?"

"A whole damn tree, from the looks of it," said Roxas.

"Thanks, I think," Sora said, laughing, looking both embarrassed and flattered by their attentions. "Was I really that hideous before? Everyone's acting like I'm a totally different person."

"No, you're definitely the same person," Naminé assured him, standing on her tiptoes to kiss him lightly on the cheek, "and you're just as beautiful as ever."

Sora bit his lip. "Oh, Naminé..."

"Don't you dare cry," Kairi warned him, blinking hard. She shoved handful of napkins in his hands. "You're going to get us all going."

"Damn, I've missed this," said Tidus, catching Sora in a headlock. "The eight of us together, freaking out over all this teenage drama, weeping and laughing in a perpetual state of PMS...when was the last time life was this good?"

"Never better," Sora agreed, dabbing at his eyes with one of the napkins. "Never better."

* * *

They sat side by side on the couch in uncomfortable silence, maintaining a proper distance of two feet. Every once in a while, Leon glanced over at Cloud, who was staring at the blank television and fiddling with a box of Kleenex. He looked so distressed. Leon searched for something to say, some sort of clever ice-breaker, but nothing was coming to mind..._Sora_ was the conversationalist. Sora was...just about everything, really.

In the end, Cloud took pity on him. "I'm so sorry," he said, his head lowered. "This must be the worst vacation you've ever had."

"No, not really," said Leon.

Cloud glanced up at him, questioning.

"Well, see, I went to visit Sora's family once," he continued clumsily. "It was during Thanksgiving. Sora and I spent the weekend prank-calling each other on our cell phones, just messing around and stuff. We went out to pick up milk at the drug store and I rounded the corner to get a cart. Sora got a phone call. He thought it was me, so he answered and said, 'Hey Leon, this Sora the Whore-a, your sluttastic sex fiend. I'm ready to spread 'em for Skittles!'"

"It was his dad," Cloud guessed.

"No. It was his grandmother."

This struck Cloud as incredibly funny. He burst out laughing, losing his grip on the Kleenex box and half-collapsing against the couch. Leon grinned, both alarmed and amused by his reaction. "Leon," Cloud gasped, clutching at his stomach. "Leon, you kill me. Why don't you talk more? You're hilarious!"

"Sora usually does the talking, really."

"So? Riku has the mood swings, but that doesn't mean I'm not allowed to get bitchy, too."

The comment had been made lightly, but it was enough to remind them of the situation. Leon bridged the gap between them by reaching to touch his hand. Cloud looked at him for a long moment, then scooted closer to rest his head on his shoulder.

"I had no idea where Riku was going," Cloud said quietly. "For the past few years, I've had no idea. And then Sora comes along and immediately knows where he is, doesn't even have to think about it."

"They've known each other for so long," Leon said. "They're different sides of the same coin."

"Yeah...and I'm okay with that. But where does it put _me_?"

Leon hesitated, not sure what to say.

Cloud tucked his knees up to his chest, staring down at his clasped hands. "I care about Riku a lot. Never doubt that. But recently, something has felt...wrong. It's like...I'm realizing how much of him I didn't know. How come I only just heard about his best friend? Why haven't we talked about these things? Sometimes, I...I'm not sure..."

"Go on," Leon urged.

"Sometimes I wonder...if he doesn't think I'm capable of holding a serious conversation for more than a few seconds. I don't know everything about him, maybe, but he doesn't know me fully, either. That's the thing about humans: there is too much in our hearts for us possibly share with someone else. There's so much of us that, sometimes, we can only love in pieces."

"I understand," Leon said suddenly, and the most shocking part of that was that it was _true_. He knew the feeling _intimately_; he lived with it every day of his life. He regarded Cloud with amazement, unable to believe that someone else had so simply put into words the emotions he'd been suffering with for the last two years.

Sora would never know about his life before rehab. He would never know about the sleepless, siren-soundtracked nights, the narcotic hazes, the days when living was almost too much to bear--there was too much to say, and Leon would just as soon taint Sora with that knowledge as he would destroy the Venus de Milo.

Those things were better left unspoken.

"There's a difference between you and Sora," said Cloud.

He laughed, bitterly. The truth burned hot beneath his eyelids. "What? He's capable of love, and I'm not?"

"No! God, Leon, _everyone_ is capable of love. But like me and Riku, you and Sora just love differently. Sora and Riks love in the moment...they love with all their hearts, with everything they have, and they don't look back. You and I want comfort in truth, in knowledge of the people around us. It's...the difference between how children love, and how adults love."

"You and I..." Leon started softly, then realized he'd been on the verge of saying some momentous, so _destructive_, that he clamped his teeth over the rest of the statement.

Cloud got the gist. He stared deeply into Leon's eyes for a long time, his fingers tightening marginally on his arm.

"Yeah," he whispered. "We're more alike than I thought."

When he moved to turn away, Leon reached to touch his cheek.

* * *

Riku hung back a little, watching them chat excitedly and rampantly exchange compliments. He felt awkward. Shallow, even. All of his friends managed to praise Sora's appearance without implying that he was ever anything less than stunning, and, of course, no one used the word "homely." For about the fiftieth time since the visit began, Riku wished he could turn back time and redo their reunion scene. Maybe then, things would be comfortable. It would be like old times. Maybe he and Sora could've...

Could've what? Rode into the sunset on white stallions? _Sure_.

"Hey, man," Wakka said, jarring him from thought. He sounded a little confused, as if he'd had to repeat himself several times. "We're waiting on you. Group hug."

"And after this, we're going to break into 'Seasons of Love' and hold hands," Axel added cheerfully.

Riku forced a smile and joined them, one arm around Kairi, the other around Sora. Whether by accident or on purpose, Roxas managed to pin Riku's arm firmly against the small of Sora's back, where Riku used to always hold him when they kissed. His flushed face was so close to Kairi's that she actually _felt_ the heat radiating from his cheeks. She fixed him with a puzzled glance. "Riku?" she began, her voice tinged with amusement, but everyone was breaking away.

"That was nice," Riku rushed out, smiling largely. "But now I've got to get home and tell Cloud--"

"Hey, why don't you and Sora kiss and make up?" Axel suggested casually. "I still feel the tension between you two. It's throwing off our group harmonics."

"_What_?" Riku and Sora demanded at once.

"Yeah, great idea!" Tidus chirped, and Riku kicked him hard in the shin. "_Ow_!"

"That's not necessary," Sora said nervously. "We're peachy keen, really. We just feel--"

"Nonsense," said Roxas, crossing his arms. "I haven't seen either of you this anxious since Prom Night. What's a little kiss between friends? Just...humor us. We're worried about you guys."

Riku moaned silently and glared daggers at him, trying to wilt him with his eyes. Sora, who'd missed their earlier conversation, suspected nothing. He turned to Riku and shrugged, trying to look more indifferent than he felt. "He's right, one kiss won't hurt anything, will it?" he ventured tentatively. "We've kissed as friends before."

"I don't think it's appropriate," Riku argued, reddening.

"If you don't _want_ to mend your friendship, that's your business," Axel said innocently. "We're just trying to help you out."

Riku could've throttled him. Naminé dropped her head into her hands, looking exasperated.

"Let's sit down," Kairi suggested, trying to rescue him.

"No, it's okay," Riku said, caving in with sudden resolve. He took a step towards Sora, who was nervously shifting his weight from foot to foot. "You're right, it's not a big deal. Sora...you're my best friend. I want you to know that. And I want us to be cool again."

He touched Sora's arms gingerly. Sora was being about as cooperative as a block of wood; he stiffened up, his head tilted down at an inconvenient angle.

"Sora, help me out," he said, and as Sora looked up reflexively, his eyes squeezed shut, he moved in to brush their lips together.

* * *

Cloud tasted nothing like the rain. His mouth was warm and sweet, faintly traced with the sharpness of cigarette smoke. He tasted like everything Sora wasn't--temperament and tragedy, adulthood, eccentric wisdom and quiet dissatisfaction. This was someone who'd seen pain and lived through it, but that resolve was weakening. The mask was being weathered away by the tumultuousness of a complicated relationship. Even as the weight of the situation hit him, and he pulled away, gasping, he felt something deep inside him snap into place.

"Fuck," Leon whispered, touching his fingers to his lips. "Fuck, Cloud, I'm so sorry...I don't know why that happened."

"It didn't," Cloud said, his eyes closed tightly. He stood up and walked into the kitchen, leaning against the counter. He held one hand over his mouth. "No. It...it didn't happen. _Couldn't_ have happened. We've got too much to lose. Too many people will be hurt."

He shuffled around the counters for just a minute, struggling to begin some sort of meal, but his hands were shaking too hard to use effectively. He swore loudly, rattling the dishes in the cabinets as he slammed the doors, then he wiped his hands and went up to his room.

Leon stayed on the couch, his head in his arms. The house was very quiet.

* * *

"Wait," said Sora, deflecting the kiss.

Riku paused immediately, more than grateful for the delay. "Yeah?"

"We _are_ cool, really," Sora told him nervously. "I've been telling you to just forget what happened in the airport...I already have. So why do we have to prove anything, Ri? You and I are best friends, and we both know it. Right?"

"Exactly!" Riku agreed compulsively. His heart was pounding with relief, and a touch of something else. "That's exactly what I wanted to hear. I just wanted us to be friends."

Sora laughed, finally relaxing his shoulders. "Well, we've already established that that'll never change. You're stuck with me forever, Tactless."

"Curses," Axel muttered, snapping his fingers. "Foiled again."

Kairi gave him a playful shove, looking reassured and satisfied. "That's what you get for trying to play matchmaker, moron!"

They clambered back into the booth, ordering another round of coffee. Riku took a seat next to Sora, and the two of them linked gazes and felt some of the truth and warmth that made them best friends. Riku smiled a genuine, non-showy smile, clapping Sora on the back. "I'm glad we're cool," he said, lowering his voice so only Sora could hear him. "I really am. Can't live with you, weirdo, but I'd rather give it a shot than try to live without you."

"Same," said Sora, grinning. "And I'm glad we stopped before doing something we'd regret."

* * *

End of chapter 5

Damn. That was the longest chapter I've ever written! Please let me know how I'm doing, especially with the new turn of events, and thanks so much for waiting!


	6. Chapter 6

AN: Haha, funny story about this chapter. I thought I'd promised to have this done by the _sixteenth_, and I decided to haul ass and get it done a day early to make up for being a slow updater. Then I rechecked my poor neglected profile and realized that I'd said I'd have it done by the twentieth. XD So, hooray, this is earlier than even I thought it would be!! Thanks so much for your patience!

This chapter is a little short, but I had to break it off because the next chapter might be sort of longer. Warnings: lots of language, perverted AkuRoku, and even more LeonxCloud and SoraxRiku than usual. This is the turning point for the couples...feelings are acknowledged, confessions are made; lots of sap. Please let me know what you think!

And, of course, you guys are awesome.

* * *

The Ugly Duckling Effect

By azneyez

* * *

The four of them sat stiffly on the couch, Sora and Riku perched on opposite arms, Leon and Cloud in the center. The loveseat was only built for two, so they should've been crowded, but they were all drawn in so tightly that their bodies weren't even touching. Riku had turned on a movie, but he and Sora had been watching their boyfriends the entire time. Cloud and Leon simply stared straight ahead. Their faces were completely expressionless.

"It's a little awkward in here," Riku remarked finally, with the air of someone reporting the weather.

Silence. No one stirred.

Sora cleared his throat. "That's right, Ri, and now onto today's forecast. Looks like it's going to be a little awkward, with a slight chance of awkward."

"And lows in the mid-awkwards," said Riku.

They caught each other's eyes and got to laughing. Neither Cloud nor Leon joined in, and they petered out uncomfortably, coughing and returning their attention to the blaring television. On the screen, Jack and Rose slowly leaned in for a kiss, standing at the head of the ship with the wind in their faces. The music swelled. Sora, already over his discomfiture, sighed deeply and put his head in his hands.

"God, I love it," he said. "It's got to be the best movie kiss of all time; you can feel the sparks flying between them. And I bet that's probably because she's got a fiancée. They _know_ it's forbidden, but they just can't help themselves."

"_Ha_!" Cloud burst out convulsively, startling Riku so badly that he recoiled and thumped his head against the wall. "Good observation, Sora! Yeah! F-f-forbidden kisses are--yeah! So--it's like, they're...like--"

"Forbidden?" Sora suggested.

"_Yeah_! Precisely!"

Sora shifted his attention. "Geez, Riku, are you okay? That sounded like it hurt."

"I got a hard head, but, _damn_," said Riku, wincing and rubbing at the injury. "I think I hit my head on a stud. Could've just gotten drywall, but _no_."

"Want me to kiss it and make it better?"

"What, is that the theme today? 'Kissing makes the world go round?'"

"It does, it does! A single kiss can change people's lives, start wars, make tabloids...make _babies_..."

Through this exchange, Leon hadn't moved at all, but his face had steadily grown redder and redder. Riku frowned and held up a hand to allay Sora's sermon. "Hey, you two. What's up? You haven't said a word to each other all night. Is everything okay--?"

"We're fine," said Leon and Cloud at the same time, too quickly.

Riku raised an eyebrow.

"And the kissing leads to drawing naked pictures of each other!" Sora squealed, blushing and covering his eyes as Rose slowly let her robe fall to the floor.

"We didn't get that far," Cloud muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Riku said loudly.

"N-nothing."

They watched the rest of the movie in silence.

* * *

"Axel! Axel--Axel, where the hell are you? I need to _talk_ to you!"

Riku gave up pounding on his front door and moved around the side of the house, banging on all the windows as he went. He knew Axel was home because his car was in the driveway, and it was midnight--the asshole had woken him up at worse times for matters of far less importance. He remembered once coming home at two from an exhausting lacrosse game and crashing on the couch, only to be awakened fifteen minutes later by Axel, who had wanted to borrow a teaspoon of sugar for his coffee.

He couldn't get the latch on the fence to open, so he scaled it with difficulty, ripping a gaping hole in the seat of his pants in the process. The backyard was dim, but there was a light on in one of the windows. Riku moved towards it and shifted aside the curtains, relieved to find it open.

"Axel, finally!" he shouted, scrambling in through the casement. He crashed onto the carpet. A second later, Axel sat bolt upright in bed, his face red and sweaty.

"Riku, what the _fuck_!" he yelled, grabbing wildly for his sheets and pulling them up to his chest.

"I need to talk to you," Riku explained, standing up.

"Couldn't it have waited a minute or five? I could have you arrested for trespassing, you know!"

"Well, if you'd answer your door occasionally, I wouldn't have had to crawl through a window," Riku said, then sighed deeply and looked at his feet. "I thought you were my _friend_, Axel. Thought your shoulder was always there for me to cry on. But if I'm _inconveniencing_ you, by all means, let me know, and I can just go on home and cross you off my Christmas gift list."

Axel threw up his hands in exasperation. "Christ, Riku, _fine_, but make it quick. What the fuck do you want?"

Riku moved to sit on the bed. "I wanted to--"

"_Don't sit there_!" Axel shouted.

Startled, Riku stood and backed up into Axel's computer chair. "Okay, okay!"

Axel sighed. Sweat stood out on his temples. "Now what the fuck do you want?" he repeated, with cloying patience.

"I wanted to get your opinion on something," Riku said, thoughtfully chewing on his lip. "Since you're the sluttiest guy I know--"

"Get out of my room."

"No, wait, that came out wrong. I meant, since you're the most...uh..._popular_ guy I know, I'm sure you have a lot of experience with matters of the heart." Riku paused, searching for a way to begin. "See, Leon and Cloud have been acting really weird ever since Sora picked me up at the coffeehouse. They don't speak to each other anymore, and they act awkwardly. I don't want to assume that..._that_ happened, though I suppose it's a possibility. Do you think they might've just gotten into an argument or something? You know, something innocent...like that?"

"Maybe," said Axel, distantly.

Riku's eyes lit up. "Or maybe they're mad at _us_. Maybe they think something happened between me and Sora, and they're guarding themselves differently. In which case we could just talk to them to sort it out and everything would go back to normal! Right? I could be getting myself worked up over nothing!"

Axel shifted under the sheets. "Y-yeah."

Riku frowned out him. "What's wrong with you, bigmouth? You _never_ give me monosyllabic responses."

"Nothing is _wrong_," said Axel. "I just think you're making a mountain out of a molehill. I mean, let's assume the worst: Leon and Cloud had hot passionate man-sex while you and Sora were out, and now they're madly in love. Maybe Cloud wants to call it quits. What then? Think about it for a minute."

"Well, _shit_," Riku said, after a pause. He twisted his fingers together in his lap, his face troubled. "I guess...god. Sora would be crushed. He really cares about Leon, you know."

"And what about you?"

He blinked. "Huh? Me?"

"Yeah! Would you be okay about losing Cloud?"

"Hell, no! How could you even ask that? He's my _boyfriend_, Axel. He's the only guy besides Sora I've ever gone steady with."

"If you feel so strongly about him, I'm surprised that wasn't the first thing that you said," said Axel evenly.

Riku scowled. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Just sayin'. Did you just hear yourself? I asked you a question about Cloud, and you immediately responded with something about Sora."

That silenced Riku abruptly. He looked down at the floor, his face confused and pensive.

"I know you love him," Axel told him with uncharacteristic sobriety. "Everyone knows it--everyone except for you and him. Call me a coldhearted bastard, but I think that it would be fabulous if Leon and Cloud got together, because it would give you guys another shot. People don't get another chance at a love like yours. It's totally cliché, totally _Disney_, but you two are meant for each other."

"I love Cloud," said Riku, softly.

"And I love chocolate," said Axel. "What's the big fucking deal?"

"You can't possibly be comparing my love for my boyfriend to your love for Hershey's."

"Hey, I _really_ like chocolate. But it's not the same. There are different levels of affection."

"And how do you know that?"

"You called everyone together in the Twilight Coffeehouse to freak out because you saw Sora kiss his _boyfriend_. Who the hell does that? It bothers you to think about him with anyone else, doesn't it? That's because you love him."

Frustration burned in his stomach. Riku slammed his hands on the computer desk. "Shit, Axel, you're not telling me anything I don't know! Okay, want me to say it? I _adore_ Sora. He's everything I want, and I would do anything for a second chance with him. But it will never happen. _He doesn't love me_. If it were up to me, he and I would be happily together now, spending our days watching movies and going out to lunch and all that other Disney shit you like. But I'm with Cloud, now, and he's with Leon. So I'm going to put in three hundred percent and make it work. It's my last chance for romance, and I won't let it go to waste because I've got unrequited feelings towards an old flame."

Axel hesitated a beat, then grinned. "Thanks for finally acknowledging your feelings toward him. I was getting really sick of your cluelessness."

"You're welcome," said Riku flatly.

"And while we're being honest with each other, I need to tell you three things. First, you're not being fair to yourself _or_ Cloud. Love isn't poker; you can't bluff your way through it. Second...Jesus Christ. You sound like you're ninety years old. Your 'last chance for romance?' Puh-leaze. You're eighteen, Riku. Trust me, you've got time."

Riku groaned. "I get you. Sorry for being melodramatic."

"I'm used to it," said Axel. He closed his eyes suddenly. "Ohhhhhh, _god_."

"What is it?" Riku demanded, springing to his bedside.

Axel put up a hand. "N-nothing! Menstrual cramps."

"_What_?"

"Shut up and listen. Third and final thing, then you get the hell out of my room: how _blind_ are you? Sora loves you so much. His eyes light up when you talk to him, he primps whenever you enter a room, and he took that 'homely' comment into stride without punching your lights out. True fucking love, okay?"

"But he loves Leon," Riku protested.

"And I love chocolate!" Axel shouted. He tugged at his sheets again, then heaved a pillow at Riku and pointed to the door, squeezing his eyes shut once more. "Now will you get lost? I'm so sleep deprived it _hurts_."

"Jesus! Fine!"

He walked back to the window and swung his legs out. He hesitated, looking back over his shoulder. "Thanks, Axel. For whatever it's worth, I don't think you're as stupid as you look. I really do appreciate--"

"_Go_ _away_."

"Fuck you, too," said Riku, and disappeared into the yard.

Axel put his arm over his eyes and let out a deep breath, shaking all over. Roxas stirred minutely between his legs, then lifted his head and carefully peeked out from under the sheets. "Is he gone?"

"Yeah," said Axel, wiping the sweat off the sides of his face. He glared at Roxas. "Why the hell did you do that thing with your tongue? You know that gets to me. Were you _trying_ to make me lose it in front of him?"

Roxas lowered his eyelashes, his lips full and sultry. "Yeah. Didn't work."

"Guess you'll just have to try harder this time," Axel said slyly, stroking his chin.

There was a clattering sound from the window. Riku's cheery voice instantly pulled them out of the moment. "Hey, asswipe! Sorry, I just forgot my...coat."

He stood there for a long time, evaluating their position. Axel stared back wordlessly. After a moment, Roxas slowly lifted his hand and gave him a tiny wave from between Axel's thighs.

"..._ew_," said Riku.

He grabbed his coat from the computer chair and climbed back out through the window. He looked back over his shoulder once, his mouth open slightly to speak, then seemed to think better of it and just shook his head. Axel and Roxas waited in silence until they heard his car roaring out of the driveway.

Roxas looked up at Axel.

Axel looked at Roxas.

"I'm a little embarrassed," admitted Roxas.

"You know what'll take your mind off of it?"

"What?"

"Sex," said Axel.

Roxas shrugged and sighed. "Let's go, big man."

"And, Roxas?"

"What?"

Axel smiled sweetly. "I love you much, _much_ more than I love chocolate."

"I know," said Roxas, pulling him down against the mattress. "Chocolate doesn't kiss back."

"But it does have nuts."

"Asshole!"

* * *

By the time he got home, the digital readout in his car read 1:17. He locked the garage door and crept to the closet, planning to hang his coat and go to bed. Sora surprised him in the kitchen. He was dressed only in his underwear and holding a glass of water.

"Oh, Riku, hi!" Sora exclaimed, leaping behind the counter. He was subtly scrambling to cover his bare chest. "Leon asked me to get him a drink. Man...I thought you were in bed!"

"I went to see Axel," said Riku. "And...um...Roxas."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. I just wanted to ask him a few questions about something."

"It must've been about sex," said Sora confidently. "That guy will do anything with a pulse. I'm surprised he even stopped long enough for you two to have a discussion."

He winced a little. "Uh. S-sure he did."

Sora caught the change in his tone and misinterpreted it as tension. He forgot about covering up and gently touched Riku's arm. "Hey, I know I'm not Axel, but I _am_ your best friend. You've been acting strange lately--that is, more spastic than is even usual. What's going on? Is there anything I can do to help?"

Riku sighed, walking around the other side of the counter and boosting himself up near the sink. He stared at his hands for a long time, trying to decide what to say. Normally, a realization of love would be an epiphany, something like angels bursting from his heart--but confessing his feelings about Sora to Axel hadn't been a wrench; hadn't even really surprised him. The truth was he'd known it for years. But the implications frightened him, especially now that both of them were involved in other relationships...and suddenly, staring at Sora's concerned face, he understood why he was jittery, irritable, as if his nerves had been set to fire. He felt trapped. He felt trapped, confused, and in _love_.

"It shouldn't feel like this," he said in a low voice.

"What shouldn't feel like what?" Sora said.

His stomach felt weird again. Riku looked up at him, meeting his eyes with as much calm as he could muster. "Loving you," he said simply.

Sora's eyebrows furrowed slightly in confusion, but the rest of his face remained neutral. "Riku..."

"You don't need to say anything. I know you love Leon, and I'm not trying to put you in bad spot...but I needed to tell you. I mean...that's my right as a human being. To love freely."

Sora put down the glass of water and turned away, tapping his fingers rapidly on the countertop. "What about Cloud?" he said softly.

"I love him," said Riku. "But not how I love you."

He waited for a few seconds to see if Sora would say anything, but he continued to look away, his eyes dim and distant. Riku slid off the counter and grabbed the glass of water.

"I'll take this to Leon," he said.

Leaving Sora deep in thought, he crossed the kitchen and walked up the stairs, tiptoeing by Cloud's bedroom so he wouldn't wake him. The door was open an inch, and as he passed, quiet voices floated down the hall. Riku paused curiously, backing up a few steps. He peered in.

Leon and Cloud were standing close, their hands tentatively joined. Neither was meeting the other's eyes.

"Every time I look at Riku, I feel like he's seeing straight through to me," Cloud was saying, speaking quickly and quietly. "Watching Titanic was the worst. Forbidden kisses, how the hell did that come up in an everyday conversation? I don't know if Sora noticed anything strange, but Riku was preoccupied all day, then I woke up to hear him starting the car. I think he's still out." He let out a breath, rubbing his forehead. "Leon, this is bad. I can't stop thinking about you."

"I feel the same way," Leon said. "But I shouldn't."

"_We_ shouldn't," Cloud corrected. "This is so wrong."

"Listen, Cloud," Leon said abruptly, briefly lifting his hands to touch the sides of Cloud's face, then dropping them again. "I love Sora. But it hurts to love him, because--"

"He's young. He--"

"Deserves better."

Cloud stepped back, shaking his head in incredulity. "That was _not_ what I was going to say. Leon, you're amazing. How could even think something like that?"

Riku couldn't stand it any longer. He shoved the door open so hard that it struck the wall and walked right up them. They both recoiled, red-faced and flustered.

"Shit, R-Riks," Cloud stuttered. "How long were you--?"

"Long enough," Riku said evenly. He handed the glass to Leon, who reflexively closed his fingers around it. "Sora wanted me to bring this to you. You might want to get in your room before he comes back upstairs."

Cloud closed his eyes and covered his face. "_Fuck_. Riku, I--"

"Don't say anything. It's cool. But I think I'll sleep on the couch tonight. Can you hand me my pillow?"

He looked up, disbelieving. "That's it? We have epic fights about toilet paper and it's orientation on the roll, and we're not even going to shout at each other because I'm cheating on you with your best friend's boyfriend? Who the hell are you?"

"Listen, Riku, this is all my fault," Leon spoke up suddenly, stepping protectively in front of Cloud. "I was the one who initiated this, and I told Sora to go downstairs so we could talk. If you're angry with anyone, be angry with me."

"I'm really not mad," said Riku, sighing. "I'm too tired to be mad."

"Are you _sick_?" Cloud demanded.

Riku grabbed the pillow himself, then gave them both a small, terse smile. "No. See, I'd love to be mad, but I just confessed my love to Sora."

Both Leon and Cloud dropped their jaws at the same time. "What--"

He shook his head. "Let's discuss it in the morning."

* * *

End of chapter 6

AN: My apologies for the abrupt ending! I couldn't figure out another logical place to end. As always, feedback much appreciated. Thank you guys for reading through all this drama!


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Hey hey, here it is!! I'm sorry about missing a deadline--it will absolutely not happen again. Thanks for your patience, duh...I think it's been one and a half years since I began this story, with only seven updates in all that time. You guys are saints. I would've given up on me years ago.

So, this chapter is probably the third to last. There will be a conclusion, then an epilogue, I guess...I can't believe it's ending! This is the angstiest chapter, and I'm just now realizing how similar this is to Evening, Softly. They're like different sides of the same coin: boy meets boy, boy has baggage, boy loses boy. Except one is all slapstick and the other is tragic fluff. But anyway, stick with me. Next chapter features the twist that I've had in mind the entire time, and makes this fic much less shallow. 8D I'm so nervous. Hope no one has guessed it!

Warnings: language, irony, LeonxCloud, Roxas cameos, outbursts from Leon, and sad realizations. God, I hope this doesn't suck.

* * *

The Ugly Duckling Effect

By azneyez

_

* * *

_

Hey Riku, what the hell did you do to Sora? I'm taking him to Traverse Town for doughnuts. He came over last night looking like he could really use a chocolate with sprinkles, so I let him spend the night. Just letting you know so you don't worry. I'll have him back at ten o' clock, before you can say, "Oh shit, it'll go straight to his already massive ass!" Love, Roxas and Thunder Thighs.

Riku put down the note. "Shit."

"I could use a chocolate with vodka sprinkles," said Cloud, disgusted. "God, I was really hoping to have this all worked out by now."

Yes, he knew that was true. Sora had left by the time he returned downstairs, grabbing clothes from the laundry room on his way out. Lying on the couch, the springs gouging at his back, Riku had stared at the ceiling for hours counting shadows. None of them had slept a wink--he could hear Leon and Cloud talking upstairs all night, worrying, cursing at themselves. He touched Cloud's arm, sympathetic despite his fatigue.

"You should go take a shower. You look like you haven't slept all night."

"I didn't. What a fucking mess." He leaned in to kiss Riku automatically, caught himself, and hesitated before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I didn't give you enough credit," he admitted, sounding exhausted. "All this time, I've been wondering what we've been doing wrong, why we've felt so...so _contrived_. But you're just meant to be someone else's Romeo. Riks, you have no idea how relieved that makes me. It means that even if we're not meant to be in love, we'll always have our friendship."

Riku snorted. "Just don't assume I'm going to get my happy ending."

"You will," Cloud said simply, with perfect confidence. "You will."

He walked up the stairs and disappeared into the upstairs bathroom. Leon waited until they could hear the water running before casting a sideways glance at Riku, an uncharacteristic expression of pain on his face. Riku sensed the gaze and looked back at him, confused.

"Leon? What's wrong?"

"I didn't come here to ruin your relationship," Leon explained, not looking at him. "And I don't want you to think that I felt nothing for Sora. He's beautiful, and I love him, but he's too pure--I _had_ to protect him at that frat party, because I knew that breaking him would be a sin. But meeting Cloud was like...finding a door somewhere unexpected. I couldn't help it. I know you're here to put the pieces back together, but I never wanted to hurt him."

Riku leaned against the counter and sighed, closing his eyes. His back still ached from the couch. "I know you didn't. None of us meant for this to happen. You just made the same mistake as I did."

"What's that?"

"Loving someone for the wrong reasons."

Leon chuckled ironically. "Maybe so. I just hope we finally have it right this time."

"You and Cloud have far more faith in this than I do," Riku said. "I don't know how Sora will react to this, but I guarantee you he's not going to leap into my arms."

"Of course he won't," Leon responded, surprising Riku by not trying to placate him. "To do so would be an insult to his character. He's nothing if not passionate. Well--maybe complicated, too. He has to process his emotion forty different ways before letting show. Unless he's drunk."

"He never used to drink."

"Riku, he grew up."

"Right," said Riku, sighing. "I keep on forgetting that."

"Just don't forget that he loves you."

"But he _doesn't_, Leon. He's never said that to me, not even when we were going out the first time. I'm chasing after a beautiful dream, and I'm okay with that...I know I haven't done anything to deserve him. I just want to be his best friend. Even if that's the closest I get, I'll be grateful."

Leon had been idly washing the dishes. Suddenly, he slammed a cup down hard on the counter, dropping the towel and bridging the foot of empty space between the two of them. "Riku, don't you _dare_ give me that bullshit," he hissed, a rare, shocking fire in his eyes. "You may be socially inept when it comes to Sora, but you're not a defeatist. You let go of Cloud because you're a gentleman, you're _strong_, but now that there's nothing in your way, you're running scared. Why the hell would you do that? Love makes you crazy, but it doesn't make you _stupid_. People would kill to be as close to their dreams as you are. And then they'd reach out and take what they wanted, what they deserved. God's sake. Grow a pair already."

Riku only stared at him, wide-eyed. Leon took a long moment to catch his breath, sighed, and picked up the towel again. He calmly resumed dying plates, not even sparing him a second glance.

Ten seconds passed.

"L-Leon?" Riku ventured, terrified.

He had already lost interest. "Hmm?"

"That...was the most you've said to me for the entire visit."

Leon shrugged. "Don't like to waste words," he said, with careful emphasis. "I only say things that are _important_."

Riku considered that for a long time. Slowly, a light seemed to dawn in his face. He looked at the picture of Sora he'd hung on the refrigerator, the one he'd taken during their Junior Prom. Posed in his simple button-down shirt, having discarded his dress jacket, Sora sat on the edge of the balcony with his arms outstretched. _If I fell now, I'd fly_, he had said--Riku remembered it clearly. _I feel invincible, Ri; there will only be good times from now on_.

"I love him," Riku said, quietly.

"You've already had this epiphany," Leon reminded him.

"I love him," he repeated, with growing confidence, "but I've got to reach out and prove it."

Leon smiled wearily at him. "And there's a new one."

Fumbling across the counters, upsetting the sugar bowls, Riku found the cookie jar with shaking hands and pulled out the spare set of car keys he kept there. Sora had taken his other key ring. Even the mere thought of Sora holding one of his possessions made him flush with anxiety, and he breathed deeply, trying to calm the fluttering in his stomach.

"Where are you going?" Leon asked.

"I need to go to Traverse right now. I can't wait. He's going to be furious with us, but he needs to know."

"No, Riku," Leon argued, alarmed. "_I'm_ the one who needs to tell him what happened. It's inexcusable; he deserves to hear it from me."

"You don't know the way into town!"

"Let me go with you."

"_No_!" Riku countered, panicking. "Leon, it doesn't matter! You're going to catch it from him too, have no doubt, but he'll only forgive us if he hears it from us right away, directly. He _can't_ find out about this on his own; it'll ruin him. You're right--he's nothing if not passionate. I need to go get him _now_. Before he comes back."

Leon hesitated. Then he picked up Riku's jacket from the counter and tossed it to him. "_Hurry_."

Nodding, Riku jammed his feet into his shoes and ran for the garage, frantically keying in the code to open the door. His fingers were shaking; it took him three tries to push the correct sequence of numbers. Once he got behind the driver's seat, he floored the accelerator, knocking the trashcans into the street before screeching out of the driveway. The speakers crashed into life, filling the car with the ironic strains of "Highway to Hell." He was doing sixty miles per hour before he was even out of the neighborhood.

The digital readout on his clock read nine forty-seven. Roxas had promised him home at ten.

"Wait for me, Sora," he whispered, his fingers digging into the steering wheel. "I fucked up, but I'm trying to make it right."

He ran a red light.

* * *

"I'm sorry that I've been neglecting you, but I really need to work this out," Sora apologized, fiddling with the stuffed dice on Roxas' rearview mirror. "Being on bad terms with Riku makes me feel so lost."

Roxas smiled, twirling the dial on the car radio. "It's okay. I mean, it's not every day that you get an epic admission of love from a guy who's loved you since birth. And together, we did manage to eat thirteen doughnuts in..." he checked his watch, "...twenty-seven minutes. Record time, Bubble Butt. Congrats."

"I just have a feeling that something's wrong," said Sora.

"Yeah. That would be indigestion."

"Urg, maybe. Got any Tums?"

"Check by your seat. I always keep medicine in the--_shit_!" Roxas stomped on the brakes. The tires squealed against the asphalt. Both of them were thrown forward in their seats, and Sora managed to toss the entire contents of the glove compartment into the air.

"Roxas, what the hell!" Sora gasped, rubbing his chest where the seatbelt had choked him.

"Sorry, sorry! Some asshole in a Civic just ran that red light!" He rolled down his window and poked his head out. "I had the right of way, numbnuts!" he shouted. He flopped back in his seat and readjusted his sunglasses, turning onto Sora's street. "God, they'll give any moron a license nowadays. I mean, Axel's driving now, too."

"Riku drives a Civic," Sora commented thoughtfully.

Roxas cruised by a line of houses, then pulled up near the sidewalk. "Here we are."

"Thanks! Can I call you later tonight?"

"Sure, we can order a pizza or something. And you can bring the Tums, since you seem to have scattered them all over the floor of my car."

Laughing, Sora hopped out and waved goodbye. Roxas waved back and put the car into neutral, waiting for him to get safely inside the house. Sora headed up the walkway and pulled Riku's keys from his pocket, then frowned when he realized that they might've been the only set. He hoped he and Cloud were able to use their vehicles. Shrugging it off, he unlocked the door and stepped inside, hanging his jacket on the rack nearby.

_I'm home_, he started to call. But as soon as he turned around, the words died in his throat.

Leon and Cloud were standing together in the hall. Cloud appeared to be fresh from the shower--his hair was dripping, and there was a towel around his shoulders. Leon was comforting him about something, his arms wrapped around his waist. Their foreheads were touching, and even then, it might've just been an innocent hug...but then they glanced up, and their eyes were startled, deeply guilty. Guilty and in _love_.

Sora backed against the door, stumbling. Something had happened to his hearing; everything sounded slow and distant, as if underwater. His hands trembled uncontrollably.

"Sora, wait," Leon pleaded. "Let me explain."

Without stopping to think, Sora turned around and ran out of the house. Roxas had just pulled out of the driveway, and he screeched to a halt at his reappearance.

"What--" he began, unlocking the door.

"Drive," Sora ordered, throwing himself back into the front seat. Already the tears had spilled down his cheeks, hot and profuse. He crossed his arms over his stomach and doubled over, fighting against the nausea that washed through his body in warm, sick waves.

Roxas yanked at the clutch. "Where?"

"_Away_!" Sora yelled.

After a moment of hesitation, Roxas pulled a u-turn and roared off in the opposite direction.

* * *

Leon had called him in panic hours ago. "He was gone before we were even out the door," he explained, speaking rapidly. "I have no idea where he could be going. You've got to call your friend Roxas and ask him where they are."

"I know where they're going," said Riku.

The drive was long, and they'd gotten too much of a head start for him to catch up, but he passed Roxas on his way home. Roxas glanced at him and nodded curtly from behind his tinted windows, but that was it, and then he pulled into the opposite flow of traffic and was gone. A moment later, he called on Riku's cell: "I dropped him off to put more pressure on you to come get him. At least you're doing something right today."

By the time he reached the street, evening had fallen, revealing the deep artificial glow of the city. It was Get-Smashed-Saturday at the club--buy two get one free on all alcoholic beverages; a deal that stopped only when you were too drunk to order. Riku snuck in through the back, where a sweaty couple had propped the door open for fresh air as they kissed. He thought it had been loud during his first visit, but now it was deafening--even from the backroom, the tile was trembling along with the pumped-up bass. His teeth chattered to the vibrations as he pushed open the door to the dance floor, briefly blinded by the strobe lights.

Once his eyes had adjusted, he grabbed the nearest person, a man staring raptly into the distance and sipping a drink. "Have you seen a kid?" Riku shouted over the music. "He's about six inches shorter than me, brown hair, blue eyes--"

"An ass to die for?" the man yelled back.

Riku blinked. "_What_?"

The man pointed towards the front of the room.

Standing on the polished surface of the bar, unmistakably, it was Sora, whirling and rolling his hips, dancing with the unselfconscious fervor of someone who was utterly plastered. His eyes were closed. He'd cast off his jacket, revealing a tight blue t-shirt that showed off his waistline and smooth arms. His inebriation broke down his inhibitions, but didn't detract from his natural grace--spotlighted by fluorescents, men waving money at him from their seats, he looked so _perfect_, so beautiful and tragic and uncontainable. Riku clenched his teeth, suddenly realizing that he was painfully aroused.

Then Sora slipped, thudded on his ass on the countertop, and crashed backwards behind the bar, effectively ruining the moment. Riku winced.

With the help of some of the laughing customers, the bartender hoisted him back on the counter. Sora's head lolled as they dabbed at his face with a dishtowel, and he smiled blearily up the man who was fanning him with a napkin. Riku couldn't hear them from where he was standing, but he saw Sora clearly mouth, "This is how I met my boyfriend." The man grinned and shrugged, lifting another drink to his lips. His other hand was playing with the hem of his shirt, lightly running his fingers up and down the small of his back.

Riku snapped. "Hey!" he shouted, shoving through the crowd. "Hey, asshole, hands off!"

The man looked up at him, startled. "He belong to you?"

"He's not a piece of meat; he doesn't _belong_ to anyone," Riku snapped, pushing the mug of beer away from Sora's mouth. "And why the hell are you still letting him drink? He smells like he just marinated himself in Schnapps!"

"He's only had two," said the bartender.

Riku glared at him, venomously. "Dozen?"

"Well, that he paid for," he amended, shrinking back from Riku's gaze.

"I bought him one," someone offered from the crowd.

Another man spoke up. "Me, too."

"I bought him two."

"I bought him seven."

"Oh, fuck me," Riku muttered to himself, then jumped as someone behind him grabbed his ass. "That wasn't an offer!"

"I have a high tolerance for alcohol," Sora chirped, his voice slurred and nearly incomprehensible. He let go of the man and threw his arms around Riku's shoulders, burying his face in his neck. "Oh, Ri-Ri, you smell like...cake. Chocolate layer cake and yellowtail sashimi. So yummy in my tummy."

Riku gingerly tried to pry Sora's hands away, relenting when he whimpered and tightened his grip. Carefully, he scooped Sora against his chest and lifted him off the countertop. "Let's go home now, okay?" he soothed. "I think you've had sixteen too many."

"Drinks are like pocket protectors," Sora said, nuzzling Riku's chest. "You can never have too many."

"Uh--damn it, just go to sleep."

"Mmm." Sora subsided, one hand curled through the belt loop on the back of Riku's pants. Riku shifted him experimentally, wondering if he'd fallen asleep instantaneously--his exertions on the bar had certainly looked taxing. He was making his way to the door when Sora stirred again, minutely. "Riku," he croaked. "I...I think I'm...I'm gonna..."

"Shit!" Riku yelled, stopping short and turning so sharply that he knocked over a couple standing nearby. Using Sora as a battering ram--a very drunk, nauseous battering ram--he raced to the bathroom, too panicked to care that his hands were latched firmly on Sora's buttocks to support him. Sora hiccupped loudly in warning, his face paling. Riku let out a relieved breath as he pushed open the restroom door, leaning forward to set Sora in front of the sink.

Sora threw up on him.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, marginally sobered by several bouts of sickness, Sora was crying steadily from the corner of a stall. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," he sobbed into his hands, now past the amorous stage of inebriation and into what Axel called the "Drunken Douchebag Aftermath." He made a fabulous emotional alcoholic, Riku thought. Painfully melodramatic. He paused from washing his hands to pat Sora's flushed cheeks with a damp paper towel.

"It's okay, really," he said. "You just got my shirt."

"After it soaked through your _jacket_!" Sora yelled, his sobs redoubling. He started to sit down in a urinal. Riku leapt forward and steered him back to the mirrors, hoisting him up onto the edge of the sink. Sora drew his knees to his chest and dropped his head, his bangs obscuring his face. "God, I really tried to hold it in. I'm a lousy drunk, I know, and I _hate_ it, but it's the only way I can get out of my own mind! You know what I mean? I actually thought about _Leon_ when I climbed onto the bar. I remembered him, how he saved me, and I h-h-hoped that he would...that..."

Riku lowered his eyes. "Doesn't it count that _I_ came for you?"

"You _had_ to. You're my best friend; it's in the contract or something."

"Sora, I did it because I love you."

"Yeah, and Axel loves chocolate."

"Shit, why does everyone keep saying that?" Riku demanded. "What is it with me? Am I so fucking _cold_ that no one believes I'm capable of loving someone? Stop waving off my confessions, Sora! You have no idea how much I love you, and how much it hurts that you don't believe me!"

Sora looked up at him, defiant despite his swollen eyes. "I know you have the capacity for love; I just don't think it's what you feel for me."

Riku was stunned. "_What_? Why the hell would you say that?"

"I...I don't _know_." Sora was crying again. "I'm so mixed up, Ri. How could anyone love me? Especially you! You've changed the rubber bands on my braces when my hands were full. I danced naked for you on your fourth birthday party and asked you what the word 'rugmuncher' meant. I just puked all over you. Right after I told you that you smell like raw _fish_."

"But doesn't that indicate the opposite of your theory? I'd put up with anything to be close to you!"

"No. It just means that we're destined to be good friends, nothing more. Maybe even less than that." He abruptly ripped a handful of paper towels from the dispenser, vehement and intoxicated. "So how long have you known about Leon and Cloud?" he said conversationally, scrubbing at his face. His sobs were subsiding. "How long have you known that they were in love?"

"About as long as they have," Riku said.

"A week or so? The whole visit? What?"

"Twenty-four hours. I'm not sure what happened...I suppose it just clicked."

Sora jumped off the sink, wobbled for balance, and ran his fingers delicately through his hair. "I see," he said, fighting to keep his slurred voice deliberately even. "And when were you planning to tell me about this? Before or after I fell back into your arms, bringing our happy, confused little foursome to full circle? Or did you ever plan to say anything?"

"We were going to tell you as soon as you got home. I went out looking for you."

"Oh, so at least you were _noble_ about it," Sora said, laughing. "Can you believe this? I'm not even mad at Leon. I knew I was losing him. But you just stepped back and let them leave us behind! I know _you_ don't have any self-respect, but _I_ did."

"It wasn't like that!" Riku argued.

"How long was I out of the loop?"

"I...I don't--"

"Let me rephrase. Did you confess your burning love for me after you realized that Cloud had lost interest?"

Riku felt his cheeks growing hot with anger. "Listen, you have every right to be mad at me, but you have no right to keep questioning me for ulterior motives! I don't _have_ any, okay? That's your problem! You just keep waiting for your life to crash out from under you! Leon wasn't planning to hurt you anymore than Cloud wanted to hurt me, or I wanted to hurt you. It happened, and it's not fair, but it doesn't mean that everything's a setup!"

"Newsflash, Riku!" Sora shouted. "In my life, everything _does_ crash out from under me! I clung to Leon because I knew he was _temporary_, like everything else in the world!"

"_I'm_ not! I'd die for you! What the hell do you want from me?"

Slowly, Sora drew back and crossed his arms. "I want you to breech the taboos," he said after a moment, his voice oddly calm and distinct. "There are things we never talked about years ago, and we still don't talk about them now. Why is that? You've confessed your love for me now, good job, but I can't love you back because I don't know if you really love _all_ of me. A declaration like that isn't worth a thing if it only applies to right here, right now."

"I don't know what you mean," Riku protested.

"I know you don't," said Sora.

Overwhelmed with frustration, he lifted a hand to touch Sora's jaw, and was startled when he didn't move away. Something in Sora's face gave him the courage to continue, and he spoke in a whisper, struggling to find the courage to meet his eyes: "I'm not a mind-reader, Sora. _Please_. I don't want to lose you, but I can't figure out what it is you want to hear."

Shaking his head, Sora leaned forward and gently met his lips with his own.

The kiss only lasted a few seconds, but Riku felt his knees weaken immediately. It was nothing like what they had shared three years ago when they spent hours locked together at the mouth, fumbling with tongues and hands. This was a close-mouthed kiss, innocent but somehow consuming, as if their history provided some intangible depth. He could taste the soap Sora had washed his face with. Sora touched his cheek lightly with warm, gentle fingers, then stepped back and left him without support in his reverie. He staggered to catch his balance, panting for breath.

"If you figure it out before tomorrow, let me know," Sora said softly, inching toward the door. "I'm staying with Roxas tonight. I'll be leaving on an early flight, and it's going to be a long time before I come back. If I come back."

"Please don't go," Riku begged. "_Please_."

Sora looked back at him, his eyes bright with tears. "Sorry. Not the words I need to hear."

The door was heavy. It slammed hard behind Sora as he left, briefly letting in a flood of music as meaningless as static. Riku just stood there at the sinks, twisting his damp shirt in his hands, trying to breathe even though it felt like someone had just crushed his chest.

"What do you want to _hear_?" he whispered, trying to shout but barely able to speak. "What the hell do you want me to say?"

Outside the bathroom, the party raged on, and outside the party, life continued. Riku slowly knelt down, resting his head against the sink's smooth porcelain, and closed his eyes.

* * *

End of chapter 7

* * *

Augh, let me know what you think! Seven chapters down, two to go. Getting down to the wire, here.


	8. Chapter 8

AN: So, this is the last formal chapter, version 2.0. The first one was sucked into oblivion when my hard drive crashed, obliterating three hundred word documents. Please forgive the delay…it took me a long time to rewrite this. Well, no it didn't, really. I was just too heartbroken and pouty to even think about it for a while. But here it is. Thanks so, so much for waiting…I just hope it was worth it! After this, a short epilogue, and then we're done. Be absolutely sure to fire any remaining questions at me, so I can tie up as many loose ends as possible. You guys are incredible!

Warnings this chap: absence of CloudxLeon (but I'll get that in the final update), AkuRoku, OFFICIAL Soriku, finally, language, and attempted streaking. Oh, and a twist that I'm sure most of you already got. But humor me, brilliant readers, pretend it wasn't obvious!

One last thing: I had this in mind before they upped the security at my airport. D: It would've been possible a year ago, but now I'm not quite sure…please to forgive. I'll be sure and try it the next time I have to fly somewhere.

Please, please enjoy. X.X Please tell me it's enjoyable.

* * *

The Ugly Duckling Effect

By azneyez

* * *

"Roxas, where the hell are you? I--hey! Don't you dare use that tone with me, ass pirate! No. No, in fact, he called _me_ in tears at midnight, and I've been here with the gang for hours, trying to figure out what it is your poofter buddy wants to hear--yes, honey, I'm aware that I'm gay, too. Which entitles me to the use of derogatory slang."

"Ask him if Sora's told him anything," Riku begged.

"He's too busy whining like a little bitch," said Axel, then winced and jerked the phone away as Roxas' screaming voice exploded from the other end of the line. He gingerly brought the receiver back to his ear. "I--yeah, I'm...listen, I'm _sorry_, babycakes. I just feel for Riku. You know he loves Sora. _I_ know he loves Sora. Even Sora knows it. You know what I think? I think Sora's wrong to make him jump through hoops to prove it. Love isn't about evidence, it's about _instinct_."

Tidus and Wakka toasted to that enthusiastically, splashing coffee all over the table. Kairi frowned and swiped the spills away with her napkin, snappy and sleep-deprived.

"If you guys are too shaky to hold your cups, it's time to stop drinking!"

"We're not shaky, just very awake," said Tidus rapidly, with a smile of shark-like proportions. "How many cups have we had? Only three, four, five-seven-eighteen--?"

"He called me a butt nugget and then hung up," Axel reported, putting down his phone. "Sorry, we're on our own, guys."

Riku had given up on drinking mug by mug and was working at the Folgers with a spoon. He crunched moodily around another mouthful, spraying the grounds as he spoke. "It doesn't matter anymore," he said hollowly. "Nothing matters. I've got exactly two hours before the love of my life walks out on me forever, and we're still trying to patch it up? I plan to slip into a caffeine coma and stay there forever."

They would've laughed if that point hadn't been accentuated by a rapid dilation of his pupils. Kairi wrestled the coffee tin away from him. "This kind of talk isn't helping anything," she insisted, pushing it to the opposite end of the table, where he couldn't reach it. "What we need to be doing is analyzing the situation for things we might've missed. Riku, tell us again what he said to you. He may have dropped some hints that you didn't catch."

"For the seventeenth time, he said, 'there are things we never talked about, but I don't know if you love all of me.' And then he told me that my feelings aren't worth anything if they only apply to the present." Riku dropped his head onto the table, clasping his hands tightly over his hair. His voice cracked. "Come on, how could he _do_ this to me?" he demanded. "How _dare_ he tell me that my love isn't enough for him! I would do anything for him!"

"Sora's not unreasonable by nature," said Naminé gently. "He must have his reasons."

Wakka hesitated. "Did something happen when you two were together?"

"Something? Like, what?"

"Maybe you were unfaithful," Axel suggested.

"Maybe you managed to shut your big fat mouth for more than two seconds," Riku snarled. Axel just beamed at him, his face unusually patient, and Riku sighed and slumped back in his chair. "Of course nothing like that happened. In all the time we were together, neither of us so much as looked at someone else! Come on. You must've seen they way we acted around each other. Couldn't you tell how in _love_ we were, or am I romanticizing our entire relationship?"

There was a long, awkward pause. Riku drew in a deep breath, realizing with sudden shame how close he was to tears. No matter what the third parties saw, _he_ knew that his and Sora's connection was genuine. How could anyone even doubt that? He had recruited their help in asking Sora to Homecoming, all of them. Kairi and Roxas had come up with the idea. Naminé had taught him calligraphy for the occasion, patiently helping him write the note, letter by letter. Tidus had provided the envelope, Wakka had delivered the message. And Axel, in a flash of inspiration that nearly got them all suspended, cheerfully inflated a dozen condoms and taped them in the shape of a question mark on Sora's locker.

_Condom Homecoming invitations_, Riku thought desperately. Come on, could love be any truer?

"Yes, you two were in love," Kairi affirmed, finally. "I don't know what's going on now, but that much is certain. You were head over heels, one hundred percent in love."

"It was sickening," added Tidus.

Riku sighed in relief, feeling vindicated. "So you believe me when I say that there was no fooling around?"

"Of course we do."

The coffee maker stopped dripping, but no one made a move for it. They watched Riku bite his lower lip and slowly comb his hands through his hair again, clearly struggling to find something to add. Finally, he settled on a small laugh. "I really thought we were going to be together forever," he said faintly, choking. "God…I hate myself. I was so _stupid_."

"A little," Axel agreed. The others whipped around to glare at him, appalled.

"Axel!" Wakka hissed.

"Well, it's true! What kind of moron breaks up with the love of his life for no reason? No matter how bitchy Roxas gets, there's no way I'm ever going to drop him. Like, how can someone _not_ find happiness with the most important person in his life? It's ridiculous."

"That's not funny at all," Riku said tonelessly.

He sprung to his feet. "Damn straight, it's not funny!"

Naminé stood up as well, desperately trying to get him to sit down again. "Please, Axel, fighting isn't going to solve anything. We need to be civil with each other."

"We need to be _honest_ with each other," Axel countered. He turned on Riku again, his eyes ablaze. "Look, we feel for you, really--you made an honest mistake, and you did everything you could to fix it. But there's no denying you screwed up big time. You _may_ have broken up with Sora because you panicked. For some reason that's beyond me, that's just how some people react to being happy. But all the evidence points to you breaking up with him because you thought you could do _better_. Isn't it possible that that's what he wants to hear? Doesn't he deserve an apology for you dumping him like an old newspaper?"

"What the hell are you talking about? Do _better_ than Sora--what is that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly how it sounds," Tidus said, reluctantly. "You know, you ruled the school back then. You were the class president, Prom King, lacrosse captain, Academic Hall of Fame winner…and you ended up dating the founder of the Origami Club? It just doesn't add up."

"People hated it, you know," Axel said. "They trashed Sora behind his back. They couldn't believe that the year's brightest star would date the ugly duckling."

That last had a dramatic effect on Riku. He leapt to his feet, screeching his chair loudly against the tile, and everyone unconsciously flinched back. Between the caffeine, adrenaline, and frustration, he was trembling almost convulsively as he raised one finger and pointed it at Axel with deadly sincerity.

"Don't you dare call him that," he threatened.

"I _don't_," Axel said, meeting his eyes. "Except when I'm verbalizing your horrible rationale."

Slowly, Riku sank back into his seat, staring around the group of nervous faces. He had gone pale. "You think I broke up with Sora because he wasn't hot enough for me?" he demanded softly.

No one seemed inclined to answer immediately, but after a few tense moments, Kairi gently spoke up. "Well...yeah, we figured it out a long time ago. We didn't _agree_ with it, but we understood that your social status demanded certain...um...certain standards. I mean, you were the laughingstock of the school! I even thought you might've broken it off because you were worried that someone would retaliate against Sora. You didn't chose the right thing to do, but you were stuck between a rock and a hard place. It's okay. Really."

"You think I broke up with Sora because he wasn't _hot_ enough," Riku repeated in a stunned voice. "You actually _believe_ I would--"

"I'm sorry, man," Axel broke in, reluctantly clapping him on the back. "I didn't mean to explode like that. We don't think less of you, I promise."

Naminé spoke up suddenly, with unusual determination. "No."

"What?"

"I said, no! I still don't believe you'd break up with him for the sake of your reputation," she insisted, loyal and passionate. She grabbed his hand. "Riku, I _know_ you're a better person than that! I think you called it off because you didn't think you were appreciating him like you should. You were always so busy with lacrosse and student council...you just didn't want to tie him down! It had nothing to do with what other people were saying!"

Riku groaned and dropped his head. "Naminé..."

But a light had dawned in everyone's eyes.

"No way," Wakka said, sounding stunned. "No way, mon, that--"

"--that would make perfect sense!" Tidus yelled.

"For real!" Now Axel was on his feet too, waving his arms emphatically. "Naminé, why the hell didn't you tell us that theory before? I get it! I _get_ it! That's what he wants to hear, I'm sure! He wants you to tell him that you broke up with him because you loved him or something! Yeah? It all fits!"

"Guys, that's not what--"

"Riku, did you ever explain why you broke up with him?" Kairi demanded, her eyes huge. "Oh my god! He just wants some closure and justification, you moron! It doesn't take a genius to figure that out! No wonder he was upset you didn't say anything to him!"

"But I--!"

"Just tell him you're sorry, and you did it for love! He'll understand! He _has_ too! He--

"_Guys_!" Riku roared finally, slamming his fists onto the table. "_I did not break up with Sora_! _He_ broke up with _me_!"

Immediate, utter silence.

Ten extremely long seconds passed.

Axel had frozen with his mouth open. He was the first to move, slowly clamping his jaws shut and lowering his arms to his sides. A strange gargling sound issued from his throat. "You…you _didn't_ break up with…oh. You…_oh_."

"Ohhhhh," Kairi added helpfully.

Five more seconds ticked by. Then everyone flipped out.

Tidus and Wakka latched onto each other, shrieking, and Naminé closed her eyes and broke into a huge, triumphant smile. Kairi began pacing rapidly between the kitchen and the stairs, fanning herself with her hands and doing Lamaze breathing. Axel launched himself wildly at Riku, crashing through the row of chairs in his way, and seized his shoulders in an agonizingly tight grip. "_Why_?" he shouted. He sounded as if he could be in the midst of extreme pain or boundless joy. "Why did Sora do it, were you shit in bed or something?"

"He just said it wasn't working!" Riku yelled back, helplessly trying to make himself heard over the pandemonium. "He said he didn't think we felt the same way about each other!"

Kairi knocked over the chairs on the other side of the table on her way over. "But you _love_ him!" she cried. "How could he not want that? Was he looking for a no-strings-attached relationship, or did he want to go steady, too?"

"We _were_ going steady! He just--"

"Ohmygodohmygod!" Axel chanted frenziedly. He shook him so hard his teeth chattered. "Oh shit! Calm _down_, Riku!"

"I am calm! I was just saying that--"

Axel slapped him hard across the face.

"_Ow! Axel_!"

"He's going into hysterics!" he reported to Kairi.

Naminé took that moment to interject, blessedly calm. "He broke up with you because afraid you didn't love him," she said, smiling, her eyes soft with tears. "I'm right, aren't I? He was afraid that he was more emotionally involved than you were…and he didn't want to be hurt like that."

"But how could he possibly think I don't love him?" Riku protested. "I've told him a hundred times since yesterday that he's the best thing that's ever happened to me!"

"But did you tell him back then?" Naminé asked.

"Well, of course I--I--"

Riku froze.

Everyone else froze with him.

Sora's words in the bathroom that night. What he had said. _I want you to breech the taboos. There are things we never talked about years ago, and we still don't talk about them now. You've confessed your love for me, but I can't love you back. A declaration like that isn't worth a thing if it only applies to right here, right now._

_If it only applies to the right here, right now. If it only applies to the present…_

…_and not the past…_

"_Forever_," Riku whispered, his heart plummeting. "He wants it to apply _forever_."

"You never said, 'I love you' when you were dating the first time?" Kairi asked, disbelieving. "You were in love enough to obsess over him for almost six years, but not enough to actually say the words?"

"I--it--it just wasn't in my lexicon! Jesus, guys, I was _fourteen_, I was _stupid--_"

"You're still stupid," said a voice from the doorway.

They whirled around. Roxas smiled at them and lifted his sunglasses off his eyes, which were bright with touched approval.

"Took you long enough," he said to Riku, twirling his car keys. "A ride to the airport leaves in ten seconds. Any takers?"

Riku swore and began grabbing for his belongings. The others scrambled to help him, and within seconds, he was re-laden with his cell phone, shoes, wallet, and jacket. "Good luck," Naminé said, and everyone else echoed the sentiment, patting him on the back and giving him quick hugs.

Roxas held the door open for Riku as he raced down the porch and across Kairi's lawn, started to follow, then hesitated briefly. "Don't you ever, _ever_ call me babycakes again," he warned Axel, casting him a glowering look over his shoulder.

"Hey, at least I tell you I love you more than once every four years," Axel said, grinning.

"Yeah, yeah," Roxas said, and went after Riku. "Like you love _chocolate_."

* * *

Either an unusually large number of out-of-staters had had rows with their ex-boyfriends, or God hated him. Whatever the reason, the airport was even more crowded than it had been on the Fourth of July. People were packed shoulder to shoulder in the baggage check lines, the staff looked sweaty and frazzled, and someone had propped the doors open for the constant flow of incoming and outgoing traffic. Riku stood at the top of the escalator, staring bleakly at the legion of strange faces. How the hell was he going to find Sora in all of this?

"Kairi found his flight info online," Axel said over the phone. "It boards at Gate C-4, nine forty-five."

Riku checked his watch. It was twenty after. "Dammit! There's no way--"

"Not if you stand there and bitch about it to me," Axel said cheerfully. "Run, Forrest, run!"

The line clicked as Axel hung up. Riku shoved his cell phone back into his pocket and began scouring the throng in earnest, looking for Sora's recognizable, magnetic stride. According to Roxas, he'd left the house wearing a striped button-up shirt and blue jeans--quite possibly the most nondescript outfit in his suitcase. If he'd worn his clubbing clothes, Riku would've been able to find him by the spotlights and parting crowds…but maybe that was exactly the kind of attention Sora was sick of. It had caused nothing but drama since the beginning of their disastrous reunion. _No wonder he's upset_, Riku thought numbly. _He thinks that I only fell in love when people starting calling him "beautiful_."

Someone shoved by him roughly, jolting him rudely from his reverie. He wheeled around to snap at his aggressor, but halfway through the motion, he spotted a familiar figure--a slim, graceful young man, leaning over to hoist his satchel off the x-ray conveyor belt. As he watched, a yearbook slid out. The boy shoved it back in impatiently and snapped it shut. He was holding a crumpled tissue in one hand.

"Sora!" Riku shouted. The guy who'd run into him nearly fell down the escalator in surprise. "Sora, please, _wait!_"

It was no use. Sora had already shouldered his bag and was continuing slowly towards the elevators at the end of the terminal. Riku swore and leapt down the stairs. About a dozen people had heard his cry and moved aside for him, but he had to fight through a majority of the crowd, which was huge, pissed off, and not terribly inclined to move. It took him a good four minutes of constant shoving to reach the front of the line. The airport security stared at him like he was crazy.

"Sir, you need to wait--" one of them began.

"I'm just seeing someone off at the gate," Riku explained, panicking. He craned his neck to see the elevators--they were just down the hall. "Please! I'm going to lose him!"

"We still need you to follow procedure!"

Realizing they were standing at the metal detectors, Riku ripped his pockets inside out. Change scattered everywhere. He managed to stumble to the archway as he kicked off his shoes, freeing his belt from its loops and tossing it to the guard. "Now?" he begged.

The man consulted his screen, looking more than a little bemused. "Um--yeah. Go ahead and step through."

He did so. The detector remained silent. He sucked in a deep gasp of relief.

"Where's your boarding pass, sir?"

"I--I don't--" there wasn't enough _time_ for this. Riku wrenched his wallet from his back pocket and threw it on the floor. "There, just use that as collateral! It has a picture I.D. and a Dairy Queen card; you can keep them both! Get a free soft-serve for every ten purchases!"

Without waiting for an answer, he bolted for the elevators. Only when his pants fell down did he realize that he'd forgotten his shoes and belt at the metal detector, but it was too late to go back. He abandoned his pants as well. If anyone had told him that he'd one day run through an airport wearing nothing but a t-shirt and his Simba boxers, he would've died of laughter. As it was now, death by mortification was probably more likely. Mortification, or possibly heartbreak.

"Hold it!" he screamed down the hall, waving his hands frantically as the elevator doors began to slide shut.

Riku realized a second too late that Sora was its only occupant. Sora didn't even look up or show any form of recognition; just jabbed the "close" button and dabbed his eyes with the tissue again. Riku cursed as the lift chimed softly, moving down towards the lower floors.

"Hey, you!" someone shouted behind him. "Stop!"

_Oh, shit._

He did an abrupt about face and ran for the stairs instead, taking them two or three at a time. His bare feet slapped painfully against the metal grating. Absurdly, he suddenly thought of the bleachers at their school's Homecoming game--they'd sat at the very top, where no one could see them. That, he remembered clearly, had been Sora's request. Not his.

_Sora_ had been ashamed of himself. Riku understood that with a pang. He had seen himself in the shadow of people who were, in truth, so much smaller than him. But with the exceptions of a few jealous bitches, everyone else knew him exactly as he was…adorable, awkward, sweet and intelligent, unfailingly good-natured, kind…everything. Whether or not he had braces. Whether or not he wore those damn orange rubber bands. Glasses or contacts, thirteen or seventeen, Riku loved him in his entirety, and with the object of his affection sitting before him, it was impossible for beauty to take on any other form. Sora was never anything less than magnificent, and he never would be.

Riku burst through the doors at the bottom of the stairwell at random. By luck or karma, he had picked the right floor. A swarm of people bustled back and forth in the hallway, boarding the concourse, and Riku had no trouble spotting Sora shuffling into the second car. He was the one with the red eyes.

"Sora!" he shouted.

Sora continued forward, consulted his ticket one last time, then sighed and stepped inside. The doors were sliding shut.

It was now or never. Riku launched himself at the coach, overestimating the distance and splatting full-body against the windows like some unfortunate bird. Sora whipped around, startled. Riku managed to pull his nose out way bare instants before the doors sealed shut. He put his palms up and pressed them to the glass, wishing desperately he could hold Sora one last time.

"I love you!" he cried, not even sure he could hear him. "I love you, Sora, I have _always_ loved you! I've wanted to be with you forever since the day we met! It never mattered what you looked like, okay? None of that mattered! You're the most beautiful person in the world! I knew it then, and I know it now!"

"The doors have closed," the concourse recording said pleasantly. "Please hold on and secure your belongings."

"Sora! Sora, I love you so much, please, don't leave--"

Sora just stared at him, his face pale and overwhelmed. Riku could read nothing in his expression--was it joy, disappointment, simple confusion? His sweaty fingers squelched against the glass. Sora noticed them for the first time and made as if to reach for him as well, but then he stopped. He looked down, then back up at Riku, helpless. "I'm sorry," he said, muffled by the glass, his eyes filling with tears. "Riku, I--I can't--"

The concourse lurched, then began to move away. Riku chased it for maybe six steps before stopping--there was no point. He had received his answer. Slowly, he sank to his knees, letting the pain wash over him in huge, cold waves.

"Sora," he whispered, resting his head against the tile.

"Over there," someone called from behind him. The guards. They yanked him to his feet and cuffed him, pulling him away from the tunnel, where the concourse's last blinking lights were finally fading into darkness.

* * *

Loneliness, he decided, would always be a gray room in the back of the airport. There was a table and two chairs, a large pane of glass that was probably a two-way mirror, and several industrial white doors which were chipped and cardboard-like. The air conditioner was on way too high. The security team had at least removed the handcuffs, but he had no desire to do anything but sit, trying to watch the clock even as a hot veil of tears blurred his vision. Jail would've seemed a welcome comfort after seeing that look on Sora's face. It was a look that meant, _I'm sorry…have a good life_.

The room shook as a plane took off on a nearby runway. Fifteen minutes past ten…that would surely be Sora's flight. He was already on his way back to his old life on the other side of the continent, where he had never been "the ugly duckling." That was probably how he had wanted it--people who only knew him as something spectacular.

_So does that make me superficial, or has it always been him_? Riku thought dully. _Everyone thought I dumped him because of his appearance, but I was the only one who had never factored it in_.

Sora would always be his swan.

The door on the left rattled and one of the security guards walked in, making sure that the butt of his gun was properly displayed. He sat across from Riku, stone-faced, and deliberately placed a pair of cuffs on the table in front of him. He cleared his throat.

They stared at each other for a long time.

"Look, if you're going to arrest me, just do it," Riku said finally. He was exhausted. "I'm pretty sure that no judge is going to convict me of terrorism just because I ran through a metal detector and didn't stop to grab my shoes."

"Funny guy, are you," the guard snapped. "You're going to have to try a lot harder than that to be hardcore."

"Like, Mufasa boxers instead of Simba?"

"Goddamn, I _hate_ kids." The man sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his head.

Riku raised an eyebrow. It was a very _defenseless_ pose to strike in the presence of a suspected terrorist. Was the guy stupid or something?

"I get it, okay," the guard said eventually, dropping his hands again. "I was in college, once, too. You look like you're a freshman, right? Probably trying to show off for your frat brothers or pass initiation or something. But indecent exposure is an old trick, not at all impressive. No arrests today, but we're slapping you and your buddy with a sizeable fine. Teach you two to stop showing off in public. Or, at least, to not get caught while you're doing it."

"Indecent exposure?" Riku repeated incredulously. "What…you mean, _that's_ the problem?"

"You don't think we believed you could be an actual threat, do you? You said it yourself. _Simba_ boxers."

"I wasn't trying to expose myself!"

"Yeah? Then what was your friend doing?"

Riku frowned. "My friend?"

The guard sighed again and pushed himself out of the chair, knocking on the glass. "Bring in Tinkerbell."

There was shuffle from the other side of the wall, then the door flew open. Riku's jaw dropped immediately. Another guard had Sora by the elbow, still handcuffed, looking mortified and harassed in his jeans, shoes, and nothing else. His pants had slipped a little, revealing an inch of green boxers with pink star-print. His eyes went wide when he saw Riku. "Oh my god, Ri!" he cried. He sounded like he was torn between perplexity and delight. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I--g-getting fined for indecent exposure?" Riku stammered. "Why are _you _here?"

"The same," Sora said, laughing with disbelief. He subtly shifted to cover his chest with his arms, pulling away from the guard and stepping a little closer to Riku. "Ri, I thought…I was so sure you'd given up! I thought you left!"

Riku swallowed hard, dangerously near tears. The security guards took their cue and silently slipped out of the room, both of them rolling their eyes and muttering something about not being paid enough. The door clicked shut. Sora dropped his gaze and slowly sank into the vacated chair, at an obvious lost for words. He shivered as the air conditioner kicked up again, rustling his hair. Goosebumps rose delicately on his arms.

"Oh…here." Riku took off his jacket and swung it around Sora's shoulders.

"Thank you," Sora whispered. He pulled it close around himself.

"No…thank you," Riku said softly, hesitantly reaching to touch his hand. "You went back to look for me. Even though I didn't tell you what you wanted to hear, you came back…thank you so much."

"You said _exactly _what I wanted to hear, Riku."

"_Huh_?" That made no sense. "Then why didn't you move? Why didn't you give me a sign or something?"

Sora hesitated. "Um…well, you scared me at the concourse. I turned around too fast and my sleeves got caught in the doors." At Riku's blank expression, he rushed to explain. "I really tried to get off of it sooner, I did! But it opens on the other side for the rest of the stops, so I had to remove the whole shirt unless I wanted to ride it all the way to the end of the line! Then, as I'm running back to find you, these guards go, 'Shit, there's another one!' and start hauling me to interrogation! I didn't know what else to--"

He broke off. Riku had tried to contain himself, but Sora's impersonation of the guard had been too much. He leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet, laughing too hard to speak. After a moment of insulted silence, Sora began to laugh, too.

"Whoever invented clothes should be shot," he declared.

"Oh, I'm pro-nudity, all the way!"

"What's your excuse? How'd you lose your pants?"

Through his laughter, Riku managed to convey the story--the metal detector, the belt, the wallet and Dairy Queen card. By the end, Sora was in stitches. He howled, weakly holding his stomach and begging him to shut up. "No more," he moaned. "Oh god, I can't take any more, Simba."

"Whatever, at least I'm not a fairy!"

Sora burst into fresh giggles and leaned forward to kiss Riku, draping his handcuffed hands over his head and cupping them tenderly around his neck. The two of them kissed deeply for a long moment, standing there against the table. Finally, Riku thought, _finally_, it was real--after years of drama and a fresh new round of boyfriends, things were finally settling into place. He showered Sora with kisses, losing himself in his gorgeous new curves and the familiar smell of shampoo and cinnamon gum.

Their bodies were warming beautifully. Sora was flushed with pleasure when they finally broke apart, taking a moment to meet each other's eyes squarely.

"Now what?" Sora asked quietly, clinging to his arms.

"Now, we pay the fines for trying to streak in a public establishment."

Sora laughed. "Yeah, I thought that was a given. And after that?"

He thought about it for a few seconds. "I guess I take you home with me," Riku said. He kissed Sora's neck, faintly. "You, me, Leon, and Cloud spend the rest of the vacation paired off--correctly, this time--and we have a thousand fights about who's shampoo is in the shower, who hogs the covers, and what movie we're going to watch after dinner. Perfect, blissful domesticity. And at the end of the month, when you have to go back and finish school, I'll be on the phone with you every night. You're going to be head cheerleader or something. Win superlatives."

"If I hadn't moved, I would've gotten, 'Most Changed,'" Sora said, looking away.

Riku guided his chin back to center and met his eyes. "No matter what," he said softly, tracing his cheek with his thumb, "you've always been _everything_ to me. You always will be."

Sora stared at him for a long time. His eyelashes flickered as he looked down at their clasped fingers, then back up, trying to find any dishonesty in Riku's eyes. Then he broke into a wide, sweet smile, raising one hand and extending his pinkie. "Oh, is that so? Are you willing to make it official?"

Laughing, Riku raised his own and linked it with Sora's. "Am I ever."

"Friends forever, then," said Sora.

"Lovers for longer than that," said Riku. "Just as long as there are Star Trek marathons and crappy boy bands in this crazy ass world."

Sora pulled him close, whispering it hot into his mouth.

"A damn long time."

* * *

End

Oh, god. My heart is pounding. Please let me know what you think, if you get the chance…thank you all so much for reading this far. One more chapter, and we're done!


	9. Epilogue

Edit: OH HOLY SHIT, I AM SO SORRY. I uploaded this to the wrong fic! SHIT, SORRY. SO SORRY. Now I look like a douche who's bumping for reviews. "Ohmahgod, I only got a million reviews for that last chapter, waah." Seriously not the case; I am SO sorry. The order is different on my stories page and my stats page, swear to God. This is the epilogue for THIS fic. Not the other.

I'm really, really sorry to all the false alerts that'll be going out. I'm REALLY sorry.

And please forgive me for missing my deadline, I got called in to work an extra shift yesterday. But here it is! The end. Like, the total end. And I personally think it's a terrible finale, but I'd always imagined a quiet ending…just let me know what you think. I'd really appreciate it. More notes at the end.

Seriously, I'm so sorry about the bad upload. I'm so embarrassed right now.

* * *

The Ugly Duckling Effect

Epilogue

* * *

Six months. Six long, agonizing, lonely, _celibate_ months.

Riku fished a pen out of his desk and slashed through the day on his calendar, sighing heavily as he settled onto the bed. There were evenings when he couldn't believe he'd survived for so long, but the tally on his wall served as a constant reminder--an army of hatch marks, sloppy with sadness. He counted them again in their neat packages of five, the two leftovers. 187. He'd lived 187 heartbreaking days without Sora.

It wouldn't have been so bad if Cloud hadn't packed up to live with Leon shortly after the summer ended. In one fell swoop, he had lost a soulmate and two of his dearest friends. The house still echoed sadly in their absence, unchanged even by their frequent calls. Sora talked with him almost every night, which helped a little, but it still wasn't the same…reaching third base via satellite wasn't quite as exciting as it was in person. Especially when Sora's mother had the tendency to pick up the phone before she realized what was going on, resulting in many an awkward conversation. ("Oh, um, hello Riku. Who are you doing? I--I mean, _how_ are you doing?")

"Just hang in there, Riku," Roxas encouraged him whenever he visited the house to clean. He seemed unperturbed by Riku's growing piles of dirty laundry, patiently pulling his head out of the toilet week after week. "Listen, one more year of school, and then he's yours forever. Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

"I find that absinthe is equally helpful," Axel added.

Unfortunately for Riku, he was having a very sober night. He paged forlornly through his pictures of Sora--mostly senior photographs, his eyes achingly blue against the sepia filters, and the scandalous shots Sora had sent him as pick-me-ups on his loneliest days. One of them included a cheerleading skirt and tray of heart-shaped cookies. _Never again, Ri, my thighs are still killing me_, he'd written on the back. _As it is, I should probably never try running for political office._

Riku smiled despite himself, lifting the picture and breathing in Sora's fading scent. He had no idea the smell of shampoo could be so arousing. He flopped back against his pillow, absently fingering the waistband of his pants.

Just six more months.

He jumped as his cellphone buzzed on his bedside table, startling him from his daydream. He rolled onto his elbows and scooped it up. "Hello?"

"Hey, Riks, how goes it?"

Cloud. And Leon, judging by the soft strains of classical music in the background. Riku grinned, pushing himself up into a sitting position. "Oh my god, you have no idea how happy I am to hear from you. I'm so lonely I could go insane."

"Too late."

"Thanks a million, asshole."

"Hey, I know Sora's busy with semester finals this week. Just wanted to check in. You're not staging an elaborate death by plunger, are you?"

"Hell no. That's so cliché." There was a shuffle as Cloud covered the receiver and snapped something at Leon, who grumbled loudly. Paper rustled. A door slammed. "What are you guys doing?"

Cloud paused. "Just, you know. Hanging out, trying to have babies. And hey, you think you could get your hand out of your pants when you're talking to me? It's a little awkward. Talking to your ex while you diddle yourself over pictures of your current little cupcake, I mean."

Riku quickly pulled his fingers off the hem of his boxers, his ears flaming. It was scary how well Cloud knew him.

"I thought you'd be talking to him now," Cloud said.

"Yeah, me too, but finals must've really wiped him out. He warned me in advance that he might not be able to keep in touch this week."

"It's Friday night. They should be over already."

"He's just busy," Riku said, a little more curtly than he'd intended.

Cloud hesitated. Then he made a dismissive sound, the cheer returning to his voice. "Maybe he's just on his way to visit you! Maybe he could no longer stand the thought of you alone in your room, the lights shut off, too depressed to even make your bed."

"You know I make my bed every day," Riku argued. He looked briefly down at his rumpled sheets, the solitary glow of his computer in the corner, the hatch marks scraped into his wallpaper. A lump rose in his throat without warning. He tried to come up with some witty retort and choked instead, startling himself by sniffling. The pictures of Sora slid off his bed. He jumped off the bed and began quickly recollecting them into a hasty pile.

"Hey, Riku," Cloud said, his voice suddenly gentle. "It's okay."

"No. No, it's not okay. I'll be perfectly fine in June, but right now, I feel like I'm dying a little more each day." His trembling hands paused on an old picture of Sora. They were in high school together. Sora was radiant in his lack of self-consciousness, those damn orange rubber bands on his braces. "Cloud…I didn't think it would hurt this much. Help me get my mind off him, okay? Say something. Anything. Even if it's totally--"

"He's hiding in your closet," Cloud blurted out.

Riku stopped. "Huh?"

"He's, uh, he's hiding in your closet."

Long pause.

"Listen…I'm actually worried he overheated in there and passed out." Cloud shushed Leon, who started to say something. "Seriously, Riks, he really hasn't come out yet? He's been there ever since you left to hang out with Roxas and Kairi."

"You're a piece of shit," Riku snapped. "Stop making fun of me! I really, _really_ miss him, okay?"

"No! No, I mean it!"

"Cloud, grow up!"

Cloud yelled something in outrage, but Riku could only make out 'untrusting' and 'whiny little girl' before Leon plucked the phone out of his hands. His voice was blessedly composed, and for the first time, Riku heard the crackle of static. They were on a cell. "Hi, Riku, it's Leon," he said calmly. "Sora caught an early flight after his tests and hid in your house. Have you seen him? We lost reception a few hours ago."

"I don't know what you guys are trying to pull," Riku said coldly.

"We're outside your window with the lights off. You're sitting on the floor with your pictures. Just get up and check the closet, please, we're worried about him."

Riku's breath caught. He stood up to look out the window, jumping when a car flicked on its lights once in affirmation. His heart began hammering wildly in his chest. "Oh my god. You really mean it? He's supposed to be here?"

"I told you!" Cloud shouted.

Leon pushed him away. "He probably just fell asleep. There's no chance of anyone kidnapping him, is there? You keep all your doors locked."

Riku froze, slowly turning to stare at his silent closet. Axel and Roxas had been visiting frequently, and he had taken to keeping the front door open whenever he left the house. He hadn't gotten around to giving them the spare key. His eyes frantically scanned the room for any signs of a struggle, any sign that someone had even been there. Feeling sick to his stomach, he raised the phone back to his ear. "Leon…I…I need to call you back. I need to check the house."

Even Cloud quieted for a moment. Then his voice again, considerably more sober: "You don't think someone else is in there?"

"Oh god. Oh, Christ."

"Riku, be careful. Grab a weapon or something. That thing on your dresser?"

Barely able to feel his body, Riku grabbed the can. It was actually pepper spray, something Axel had got him as a gag gift a few months ago, after Riku complained about being hit on at work. He shook it as he slowly made his way to the closet, walking on tiptoe, his finger poised on the button. "Talk to me," he whispered, his voice shaking. "I'm so freaked out."

"It's okay, we're on our way in," Cloud said. The car door slammed behind him.

Riku touched the doorknob. It was cold in his palm, which had broken out into a sweat in the last few seconds. "Someone broke in," he moaned softly, unable to help himself. "Someone broke in and kidnapped Sora and is waiting to kill me."

"Don't worry. Sora's too chubby to sell into prostitution."

"He--_what_? What kind of theory is that? Ugly kids get murdered, too!"

"Riku, _go_!"

He wrenched the closet door open on that fresh wave of adrenaline and confusion, dropped his phone, screamed, and discharged the contents of the can straight into the darkness.

It wasn't pepper spray after all.

It was silly string.

He'd squirted a good sixteen feet of the stuff before he realized what was going on. Sora shouted and sputtered, holding his arms up against the onslaught of foam, then launched himself furiously out of the closet and smacked Riku hard in the chest with both fists. Riku toppled backwards over his computer desk, losing both of his shoes in the process.

"S-Sora?"

"Surprise!"

"Holy shit!" Riku cried, ecstatic. Then he faltered, his joy quickly consumed by confusion. Sora wasn't smiling. In fact, Sora was advancing on him, looking more outraged than he'd ever been in his entire life. Riku slowly backed against a wall. "Sora?"

"I hate you," Sora said.

"What the hell is wrong?"

"God, how can you even ask that?" Sora screamed, stunning him. "Every _single_ time, Riku, every single time I walk into a room or see you for after _years_ of separation! I'm _homely_? _Ugly_ kids get murdered, too? Well, _fine,_ that's _totally_ fine with me, hideous creatures like me should just be living under rocks or something! I get the drill! Wash, rinse, repeat, Riku, _I'll_ say it because _you're_ too much of a chickenshit to! Kiss my repulsive ass! It's _over!_"

Riku gaped at him, too shocked to say anything. It was only when Sora began storming out of the room that he could move again, making a desperate leap at his boyfriend and catching him tightly around the thighs. Sora stumbled into the doorframe. The two of them crashed to the ground, flailing.

"Get off of me!" Sora yelled. "Get off, you might catch my ugly!"

"That's not what I meant!" Riku shouted.

"How many different ways can someone take that?"

"You just heard the wrong thing! _Trust_ me!"

Sora kicked him. Riku managed to pin him down, much to Sora's intense frustration. He waited until he'd stopped thrashing before relaxing his hold on his arms a little, letting himself collapse in his exhaustion. The two of them lay there panting for a few moments. Riku's face brushed inadvertently against the soft curve of Sora's neck. He couldn't help it--despite the situation, he still had that scent, that warmth. 187 days away from this perfect, writing body; it was absolutely uncontainable. He shuddered, stilling above Sora as a rush of blood and lust awakened a certain, unmistakable part of his anatomy.

Sora noticed this change and looked up at him. His eyes were huge and vulnerable, torn between fury and careful hope. "R-Riku? I think something's come between us."

"Sorry," Riku mumbled, burying his face in Sora's hair. "It's just…you're so…"

"You think I'm--?"

"How many times do we need to go through this, honestly? You're a _god_. People stop you in stores just to see if you're real. You've always been everything I--"

Sora cut him off by laughing. Then he was kissing him furiously, pressing his body hard against his, forcing him over so Riku's waist was straddled between his knees. Riku kissed back feverishly. Sora's teeth scraped against his jaw line. "You…really don't think…I'm ugly," Sora muttered between kisses. "You…"

"I love you. Love you so much. Your timing is just shit."

Suddenly, Sora pulled back. Riku's mouth followed his as he moved away, groaning in protest. Sora seemed to remember himself, smoothed his hair, and smiled with as much dignity and politesse as he could manage. He had changed a little in the last few months. The winter had paled his skin, bringing out the delicate roses in his cheeks and lips. He looked a few inches taller. His hair was a shade lighter, golden under the soft glow of the moonlight. But he still had the same smartass grin on his face as he touched Riku's face, then looked deliberately down at the bulge in his jeans.

"So you're saying you only love me _this_ much," he said, holding his fingers about three inches apart.

Riku twitched in outrage. "Hey!"

"Whatever," Sora said loftily. He nodded into the room, indicating the duffel bag he'd lost sometime during their tussle. "Sorry I fell asleep in the closet. I hope you're planning to clean up the house a little, and give me the bed. Because I like to sleep with a lot of pillows."

"You're visiting for winter break?" Riku said hopefully.

"He's moving in," Leon announced from the doorway.

He whirled around. Cloud and Leon had let themselves into the house, both of them hauling heaps luggage with one hand, subtly linking fingers with the other. They each wore a ring on their left hand. Cloud looked ready to burst with excitement, and even Leon was smiling. "That worked out well," he said, sounding pleased.

Riku was still floundering for words when Axel leapt out from behind them, armed with dual cans of silly string.

"Happy fucking reunion, have some pepper spray!" he yelled, dousing them recklessly with the pink and green froth. "Congrats, good job, can't wait to see the children!"

"You!" Riku shouted, staring at the empty can on the carpet.

"Me, O Smart One! You're very unobservant when you're crying in your beer!"

"Underage drinking alert," Roxas grumbled, stumbling to join them. "Yell it louder, I don't think China heard."

Tidus and Wakka appeared to have made him their personal pack mule. He was laden down with gifts and plastic bags of junk food. Axel waved to him cheekily, making no effort to help him, still scattering silly string down the hall. Kairi caught Roxas by the shoulder an instant before he collapsed, relieving him of a few of the grocery sacks and tossing something to Riku. He fumbled it in his surprise.

"Make merry," Naminé said, leaning down to kiss them both quickly on the cheek. "We're going to be up all night, celebrating true love."

"Two instances, even," said Cloud, winking at Leon.

Axel smiled at Roxas. "Three."

"Two," Roxas corrected him, scowling, but he didn't move away as Axel inched an arm around his waist and pulled him into an affectionate hug.

Riku glanced down at the object Kairi had thrown at him. It was a huge tin of Folgers. "Coffee," he said, disbelieving, and broke out into laughter. "Oh my god. Brew it, bitches. Let's get ready for those caffeine comas."

As everyone headed towards the kitchen, chattering and shoving each other, Sora grabbed onto the elbow of Riku's shirt and pulled him back into the hallway. His eyes were shaded with shyness and uncertainty. "I graduated early," he explained, seemingly unsure whether or not he should be smiling. "I took seven classes, plus a few at the college. I don't really mind missing the actual ceremony--I mean, everything I want has always been here. Except for Leon, but he and Cloud need their space."

"You don't know how happy I am to see you," Riku said, kissing him gently on the lips. "The thought of being without you for six more months…it was unbearable."

"So…I can really move in with you?"

"Yeah. Absolutely."

"What will we do?"

"Ride on the stars. Make love all day." He paused to regard Sora's unimpressed reaction, then laughed. "Or set to work on your college applications? I've been working a few jobs, just saving up and all."

"Right, Cloud told me you're working at the grocery store?"

Riku winced. "Uh. Actually, that was more of a community service thing…to prevent a certain incident from going on my record or--"

"Forget I asked," Sora said, snickering. He pushed himself up onto his toes and kissed Riku again, threading his fingers through his hair. His hand lingered there a moment. Sora rubbed his lips softly against the corner of his mouth. "I don't care what we do or where we go. We're together, and we're going to hate each other in a few months, but…I think I can put up with your stupid shampoo and your insults and law problems. I mean…no matter what, I'd rather live with them than without you."

They both paused to regard Leon and Cloud from across the room. Leon said something under his breath. Cloud glared at him and shoved him away, but Leon caught him by the shoulder and pulled him back. The two of them scowled and kissed. Their hands linked, the twin rings glittering starkly in the darkness.

"I've talked to them about it," Sora said. "They feel as right as we do. I mean, they fight all the time, but they've really got something."

"That sounds familiar."

Sora paused, chewing nervously on his thumbnail. Then he straightened. "Guess what, Riku? I won a class superlative at my high school."

Riku stroked his bangs behind his ear. "The most changed?"

Sora smiled widely, his eyes falling shut. "The _happiest_."

"Toast, toast!" Kairi hollered from the kitchen. She brought out the ten mugs on a tray, filled with iced coffee and whipped cream, and handing them out. Riku paused to kiss Sora one more time, eyeing him meaningfully, then took his arm and moved to join them. The group formed a loose circle around the table. The breadth of their friendship was a little overwhelming, and they stood there for a long moment, trying to find the words.

"So, what? To true love?" Tidus finally proposed, raising his glass.

"In all its forms," Naminé agreed.

"To all the good, and all the bad," Leon said, squeezing Cloud's hand.

"Don't forget the ugly," Roxas chimed in with a smirk, elbowing his boyfriend. Axel glared at him and thrust his own mug upwards.

"To the love of _chocolate_."

"To the love that takes way the hell too long to realize," Wakka said.

Riku felt Sora's momentary hesitation, then watched him slowly raise his mug, his eyes glittering with emotion. "To the love that's worth it. The love that's worth everything," he said, looking up at Riku with a shy smile. Riku nodded. Happiness flooded him in great waves, and he drew in a deep breath, tasting the cleanest air in eighteen years. Coffee. Silly string. The sweetness of Sora's shampoo.

"To beauty," Riku said softly. "Which doesn't mean a goddamn thing."

They drank.

"Unless you're as ugly as Sora," Axel added, as soon as they'd all lowered their cups.

"Homely, jerk," Sora said, grinning. He squeezed Riku's hand. "Isn't that right? I'm homely?"

"You're perfect," Riku told him, and Sora broke into smile and leaned in to brush their lips together. He dimly registered his friends oohing and aahing sarcastically in the background, but as Sora's arms curled around his shoulders, the rest of the world disappeared. It had taken him six months…and every second had been worth it.

He had finally gotten it right.

* * *

End

* * *

That's it, that's really it. I feel so weird right now.

Thank all of you so much for sticking with me for so long. It's been over three years since I started this, and I'm clearly one of the slowest writers ever--thank you all for your patience and your support. And for those of you who came in later in the fic, thank you so much for taking the time to give me feedback. I realize that I'm a grossly over-reviewed author, given the low level of my writing skill, but I will always be working hard on improving. Maybe someday I'll actually deserve all the kind words…though I doubt it. You have all been so phenomenal.

Again, thank you so much for reading. It was a pleasure to write this, and I can't wait to try my hand at another fic. The next one will be updated more than once every four months, I promise. XD

My love goes out to all of you!

Azneyez

P.S. You have no idea how sorry I am for updating on the wrong fic. Really. I can't get over how stupid that was; please give me a chance to prove I'm not just an attention whore. I'm seriously, seriously sorry.


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